Thank you, Chair.
Welcome to all of our witnesses. Thank you for participating.
To Mr. and Mrs. Best, I am heartbroken. I am angry and disgusted that I was once a member of a justice system that has failed you so miserably.
To really emphasize that point, every time that offender who took your daughter's life appeared in front of a judge and was granted bail, he promised to follow those conditions; and if he was released with a surety, that surety also promised that he would abide by those conditions.
These are false promises that are given every single day in this country, and the justice system accepts them at face value. They will often sometimes give warnings—“Should you breach these conditions, you ought not to expect to be released a second time or a third time or a fourth time”—and history and example after example show us that these are promises that are not fulfilled; consequences are not given to offenders.
If you could tell the government what the most important thing is to you as survivors of a loss such as you've suffered, what would you tell this committee when we write our report to the House?