Thank you. It's a pleasure and an honour to be here. Thank you to our witness.
I was a prosecutor. I focused primarily on sexual offences and particularly sexual offences against children, so it's a real honour to be here.
I'm going to ask you about three tangible things, and I know we may not get through these in the next five minutes.
We're talking about steps that can be taken. Sometimes we talk in the macro, the big picture. What I want to talk about is section 535 of the Criminal Code, for instance, about preliminary inquiries, which means that people testify twice. Second is video testimony. Section 486.2 of the Criminal Code allows somebody to testify from outside of the courtroom. Last, if we can get to it, is the adoption of a statement under section 715.1 of the Criminal Code.
I'm not sure if a lot of people are aware of this, but a preliminary inquiry is designed to ensure that there is enough evidence to go to trial. Now, preliminary inquiries were abolished for people who were charged with offences with 10 years or less in jail. Interestingly, sexual assault against an adult is a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail, so the person who is accused of that offence does not have the right to a preliminary inquiry. If that sexual offence or sexual interference occurs against a child, for instance, the maximum sentence is 14 years in jail under the code.
What I'm saying is this. A child who brings forward an allegation of sexual assault by indictment has to testify twice, and an adult who may bring forward that same allegation testifies once. This clearly makes no sense, does it?