Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, Ms. Ouellette. I'm glad you're with us this morning.
I've been listening to everything you said, and it's very enlightening.
I agree with Mr. Naqvi. Endeavouring to reverse the burden of proof would be pretty hard to do. We live in a society where we don't want people to be convicted unless we are certain that they are guilty. Wrongly or rightly, the system we have is based on the principle that we prefer to let guilty people go free than to send innocent people to jail. That has its benefits and its drawbacks.
That said, I think you're right to say that the justice system tends to leave victims behind. It makes total sense when you say that victims of sexual violence may have some anxiety or stress, that they may have trouble recalling certain things and that their testimony may come across as less credible, as a result. That makes me wonder whether we shouldn't focus on tools to help victims to ensure they are met with more understanding when they testify.
I was going to bring up information, but you beat me to it. A lot of witnesses told us that victims knew little about what their rights were. That is a big problem, one we need to pay careful attention to in our report.
I want to discuss another topic with you, victims' participation in the legal process. Do you think it would help if victims were involved in the process every step of the way, rather than just being treated like witnesses? If they were involved in the process, they could have more influence on decisions like plea bargains. Those decisions are usually determined by defence counsel and the Crown prosecutor.
Do you think victims would benefit from being involved in those discussions, and would they agree?