Certainly.
I didn't think it was necessary. As I mentioned, getting a pardon doesn't make it easier for someone to conceal a crime or escape investigation. The police are still very much aware of an individual's record. There are two differences. One is that the person, prior to Bill C-23, got a pardon—and I guess they still do—but then the police don't share the information they have on file with an employer or somebody else who's wanting a check, but the police still have that information. So having a pardon doesn't make it easier for me to commit a crime or conceal my past from the police or make it harder for them to investigate me. At the time this first came up, I said on CBC national radio that it wasn't necessary. I thought the system, with a 96% success rate, worked just fine.