Good morning. I call the meeting to order.
As you've noticed, the system has been changed, so I have quite a few remarks to make first.
First and foremost, welcome to meeting number 102 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.
Pursuant to the order adopted by the House on February 14, 2024, the committee is meeting in public to begin its clause-by-clause study of Bill C-273, an act to amend the Criminal Code.
Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format pursuant to the Standing Orders. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom app.
This is a bit new, on avoiding audio feedback: Before we begin, I would like to remind all members and other meeting participants in the room of the following important preventative measures.
To prevent disruptive and potentially harmful audio feedback incidents that can cause injuries, all in-person participants are reminded to keep their earpieces away from the microphones at all times. As indicated in the communiqué from the Speaker to all members on Monday, April 29—that's today—the following measures have been taken to help prevent audio feedback incidents.
All earpieces have been replaced with a model that greatly reduces the probability of audio feedback. The new earpieces are black in colour, whereas the former earpieces were grey. Please use only a black, approved earpiece. By default, all unused earpieces will be unplugged at the start of a meeting.
When you're not using your earpiece, please place it face down on the middle of the sticker. You will find the sticker for this purpose on the table. Please consult the cards on the table for guidelines on preventing audio feedback incidents.
The room layout has been adjusted to increase the distance between microphones and reduce the chance of feedback from an ambient earpiece. These measures are in place so we can conduct our business without interruption and protect the health and safety of all participants, including the interpreters.
Thank you for your co-operation.
For members in the room, please raise your hand if you wish to speak. For members on Zoom, please use the “raise hand” function. The clerk and I will manage the speaking order as well as we can, and we appreciate your understanding in this regard.
Before we begin, I want to remind everyone that we will leave about 30 minutes for an in camera meeting to discuss business.
Now I want to welcome the witnesses from the justice department, who will help us with technical questions on Bill C-273.
First we have Matthias Villetorte, senior counsel, criminal law policy section; and Isabelle Desharnais, counsel.
Welcome and thank you for joining us.
We will now commence the start of clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-273.
I would like to provide members of the committee with some instructions and a few comments on how the committee will proceed with the clause-by-clause.