I recognize that this is an area of the law that's really confusing. You saw that in the evidence of the witnesses from the Criminal Lawyers' Association. I don't want to be pedantic; I just want to try to clarify for the members of the committee the distinction between a criminal record and a record within the meaning of the Criminal Records Act.
The Criminal Records Act doesn't actually define the term “criminal record”. At subsection 3(1), it speaks of “A person who has been convicted of an offence under an Act of Parliament...”. So clearly, a conviction for a National Defence Act offence would be a conviction under an act of Parliament. In the current circumstance, a person would acquire a record within the meaning of the Criminal Records Act for any conviction at a service tribunal. I hope that assists you.