I think it's one way or another. Either it's such a rare defence that it doesn't matter that the standard is very high for the Crown, because it's such a rare defence that it never comes up and hasn't come up since the Brown decision, or this is a very urgent matter for which there is no time to even have these hearings we're having today.
I don't think it is fair to women's groups, which have been instrumental in working toward just getting our basic sexual assault provisions in the Criminal Code, to rush these consultations. As Professor Froc explained, we felt that the way we were consulted was a little bit after the fact. I don't want to presume the intention for these consultations, but we definitely felt that a couple more weeks to make sure it was done better would have been preferable.
It also depends on whether you are going to go away from this committee and then make amendments to the law or if we're being heard after the fact. There have now been consultations, but we want meaningful consultation so that it's not just us talking at you. We want our concerns to be, ideally, integrated in the law-making process.