Just to address this concern, Mr. Easter did indicate that our government amendment, G-1, does include some of what you're saying in tightening up the type of offence, but additionally to that I just wanted to remind everyone that the actual window that someone has to be heard, we're extending it to four years and also to five years. But that doesn't mean that someone can still have it heard in a shorter period of time.
We heard testimony from a witness who said they actually had to go back to one in six months. So there is some discretion within the Parole Board of Canada to make that judgment call as to when the next Parole Board hearing would be. What this bill proposes to do is to extend that window so that the maximum amount of time is longer than it is today, to prevent the situations that we heard of from the witnesses who were here with us in the committee. I do agree, their stories were very sad. I was over here myself in tears, and I can't imagine being in their shoes or having to go back to a hearing at six months, a year, two years, when in fact the Parole Board of Canada knows that that individual is not going to be released.
Again, we keep thinking that someone's not going to get the opportunity to integrate back into society and it's going to cause more victims, as you're hearing from the opposite side. I just want to reiterate that this is not the case because the Parole Board of Canada could still hear, could still have that happen. It doesn't have to wait for five years; it doesn't have to wait for four years. It could actually do it in two years. It could do it in shorter than that as well. I just want to make sure that's not what you think the contents of this bill are about.
I do agree with Mr. Easter, obviously, a government bill has changes to this section as well, so we will not be supporting that amendment from the NDP.