Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
First, while I'm always happy to hear that it doesn't show, I did start practising criminal law in Montreal in 1966, on the Crown's side, and later on the defence side most of the time, until I went into politics in 1993. At the time, there were no witness protection programs. I saw them come into being unofficially. And I have particularly seen them improve in terms of reliability, transparency and effectiveness.
I remember that at the time in Quebec there was a report by Mr. Justice Guy Guérin, which set out what type of written arrangements there should be with these individuals who had a criminal past but who were prepared to testify against others so that we could get a conviction. I very much appreciated the fact that the agreements were in writing, but I had some experience with the system when things were more or less improvised. Things were left entirely to the discretion of police officers. The arrangement was hidden and operated using police funds. There is no doubt that the current situation is much better.
This is an extremely difficult subject. The people with whom you have to work have a criminal past, and they have criminal tendencies as well. These people are not always reliable, almost by definition. I understand that it is difficult to develop a perfect system that is effective while controlling these people at the same time.
I think you have some experience running the program now. Do you have any suggestions for us as to how it could be improved? I think that if you are quite succinct, I will mention some of the improvements that have been suggested to us and ask for your opinion on them.