Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Fry, for being here. Thank you for your private member's bill. We're generally supportive, but it's here at committee so that we can work together to make it stronger.
Before I get into that, I have a question more generally.
In the 2020 Speech from the Throne, the federal government made commitments to work with Parliament on Criminal Code amendments, explicitly to penalize those who neglect seniors, and now here it is in a private member's bill that is being presented. It's also in Mr. Lametti's mandate letter that he should continue to work with the Minister of Seniors to strengthen Canada's approach to elder abuse by finalizing some legislation.
Why has it been left up to a private member's bill to bring this important legislation forward?