Thank you, Chair.
I want to make one important distinction. When something is before the courts, a person or an accused has the ability to appeal; they have the ability to cross-exam the evidence that's before the court, and the person they are cross-examining that evidence in front of is an actual juror, a judge, appointed to make those kinds of decisions in law with the full support of all of that evidence.
A firearms licence application is made in front of a chief firearms officer. None of the information that's being presented or any decisions the CFO make have to be rendered publicly or to the applicant, and none of the decisions have an opportunity to be cross-examined in the judgment of the CFO by the applicant.
For the sake of clarification, Mr. O'Reilly, I think we want the same outcome. We all want this to be a matter of public safety. If we want to broaden the scope of the discretion that the CFO has in order to increase public safety, we have to, at the same time, protect individuals and give them a recourse if they are not treated fairly by the government, of which the CFO is an employee.
What redress, what opportunities, would an applicant have if they happen to get caught up...because this bill's going to pass. This legislation's going to pass. I can't stop it. I don't necessarily disagree with the intent of what this legislation is trying to do, but I have been a member of Parliament long enough to know that somebody is going to get maligned by this legislation because the law is never going to be perfect. They are going to be in my office asking me what they can do.
What can somebody who is caught up in this, who feels unjustly treated, do in order to seek redress for the fact that their firearms application for a possession and acquisition licence, or whatever, is denied on the discretion of a chief firearms officer?