Mr. Chair, I have one point of fact that I think would be of assistance to the committee in light of the remarks that were just made. In fact, of course, for something as basic as how one computes the fine for a reservist, the Queen's regulations and orders prescribe that, and it's prescribed in subsection 203.065(6), which provides the formula for exactly how you calculate the fine for basic monthly pay for a reservist.
The second observation I would make is that there is some merit to what Mr. Harris has said, if one looks solely at the scale of punishments, but of course there's a bit more to it than that. As I mentioned earlier, the Supreme Court of Canada, in the Wigglesworth case, talked about the concept of a true penal consequence and said that a fine above a given amount—in other words, a really big fine—could certainly constitute a true penal consequence. The relevance of that in policy terms, in terms of our formulation of this, is indeed that a fine may be, and often very much is, combined with other punishments in the scale of punishment; they're not mutually exclusive. The point, one might say, of the Criminal Records Act thresholds for how long you have to wait and how big the punishment has to be is to express Parliament's judgment about societal disapprobation, and the denunciatory effect or degree of disapprobation is reflected in the quantum of a fine.
I think it is highly relevant to consider that the imposition of a very large fine by a court expresses a high degree of disapprobation. Conceptually, I think that's relevant to the consideration of where one would create an exemption under the Criminal Records Act or not. Where you should draw that line is very much a matter of policy, and very much, ultimately, a matter of judgment for Parliament to make, but I would just point out that conceptually those concepts are linked.
Thank you.