Happy birthday.
I'd like to take a brief moment to thank the survivors and victims who are present here to testify. On behalf of the members of this committee and all parliamentarians, thank you for your advocacy. I can tell you that, in my experience—not only in this job on the Hill but also before, as an actor in the criminal justice system—your work is incredibly important to this legislation. We thank you very much for bringing forward the ideas you're going to articulate later today.
Colleagues, we know Bill S-12 proposes to do three things: strengthen the Sex Offender Information Registration Act, make certain amendments to the International Transfer of Offenders Act and, finally, strengthen some of the rights that ought to be afforded to victims in the context of criminal justice proceedings. I think we can all agree there is still a lot of work to be done there.
I want to zero in on the concerns that have been expressed by victims' advocates and survivors themselves about how we can ensure they are provided with timely and accurate information on applications that involve publication bans. A couple of days ago, we heard from the minister, who expressed concern about one of the amendments that were put forward by the Senate, which would require that Crown prosecutors communicate directly with victims about said publication bans.
Before I get into those concerns, I'm going to give the officials an opportunity to elaborate on that, Madam Chair. I think we can all agree that it is important for victims to be treated with professionalism, courtesy and, more importantly, sensitivity—in particular, taking a trauma-informed approach. That's regardless of who is communicating with them, whether it is a Crown prosecutor, a member of the law enforcement branch, a member of the profession, or any of the social service providers in the system. I think we can all agree we have to do better there.
That said, the minister said he was worried the Senate amendment as expressed would infringe on prosecutorial independence. I'd ask you—very briefly, in a matter of seconds—to tell us what the job of a Crown prosecutor is. I'll then come back to you and ask a follow-up question.