I believe it is working. Thank you.
I am a member of the Bloc québécois, which has certain affinities with the Scottish National Party. We are talking about a subject in which, beyond political considerations, we are pursuing the same objective: to secure the cooperation of important witnesses.
There are two types of witnesses that we want to protect. There are those who are innocent and who, if they testified, would run the risk of being intimidated or even killed by members of organized crime. There are also witnesses who have taken part in criminal activities and who one day decide to cooperate with police in exchange for lesser sentences. The Italians have a special name for them. They call them “turncoats”. That moreover is the expression that we tried to use in Quebec, but the press didn't always understand it.
I very much appreciated the document you sent us and the comparisons it contains. They are very enlightening about the various ways in which the witness protection system is used. I don't think Austria's would inspire us a great deal.
Apart from the experiences you've shared with us and that will no doubt be very useful, I would like to know whether your experience is the same as ours in one respect. A number of witnesses to whom we have offered this protection and a new identity, and who have been able to go and live in other parts of Canada have returned to their homes. Generally they return within approximately two years.
Have you noticed the same trend among “turncoats”?