Thank you, Mr. Chair, and members of the committee.
We're proud to appear before the committee. We're particularly proud because our member of Parliament, Ryan Leef, is a member of your committee.
The comments I make this afternoon are on behalf of Mike Nixon, Minister of Justice and Attorney General for the Yukon. Minister Nixon has asked me to make the remarks that follow.
I should say two things at the outset.
First, our comments today are of a more general nature. They are not technical comments on the amending bill, as such, on Bill C-42. We don't have any particular difficulty with the amending provisions as provided in Bill C-42.
Second, our comments are not particularly lengthy, but I'll provide, if I could, Mr. Chair, a brief opening statement.
The Government of Yukon is in support wholeheartedly of the changes that are found in Bill C-42. We are in support largely because the concerns that we've seen across the country in relation to the RCMP are concerns that are found in the Yukon as well.
We did our own policing review and issued a public report two years ago, in December 2010, called “Sharing Common Ground”. Many of the findings in that report, and the recommendations, dovetail with the changes in Bill C-42, so we are very much in support of the effort that Parliament is making in this regard.
Mr. Chair, I should just stop there and ask how long you're anticipating I would have for opening comments.