Thank you, Chair.
Welcome, Minister and department officials. Thank you for your attendance.
Minister, I want to go back to my colleague's question regarding the charter statement. I'm just taking a look at the requirements.
On December 13, 2019, amendments to the Department of Justice Act came into force, creating a new duty on [you] to ensure a Charter Statement is tabled in Parliament for every Government bill.
Charter Statements are a transparency measure intended to inform parliamentary and public debate on a bill and help increase awareness and understanding of the Charter.
I listened to your evidence. You said it will be “deposited”— I think that was the word—or tabled.
You also noted, Minister, that yesterday was set aside for all parliamentarians to debate this issue, and largely we heard from Conservative MPs, with not much from the Liberal bench. Between yesterday and tomorrow, approximately 15 hours have been set aside for parliamentary debate, with no charter statement for any parliamentarian to review in advance in order to factor that type of analysis into their speech. You've denied parliamentarians the ability to really reflect on the legality of this bill.
My question to you is very specific. What does “depositing” mean and when can Canadians, but more importantly parliamentarians, expect to receive this and review it fully?