Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the minister for being here today.
I want to go back to the announcement you made this morning, which you characterized as a response to the coroner's inquest into the death of Ashley Smith. I have had a brief chance to look at that announcement. I think there are several important things missing from that announcement, and one of those is a sense of urgency.
We all know that Ashley Smith died in custody in 2007. In 2008 the correctional investigator gave the current minister a set of recommendations that are essentially the same as those that were made following the coroner's inquest. Certainly you've had the 104 recommendations of the coroner for four months. There is a very important thing that I think is missing from this, and it's actually shocking to me. You've paid compensation to the family of Ashley Smith, so there is no need to fear consequences of legal action, but we still don't have a public apology for her death. The coroner's jury found that this was a homicide, meaning that it was an avoidable death in custody, and clearly in those cases the buck stops on your desk.
So will the minister now publicly apologize to the family and to Canadians for the wrongful death of Ashley Smith?