As I recall, Mr. Paul-Hus, the consultation was responsive. In other words, once Bill C-45 was enacted.... Indeed, for a number of months before it finished its parliamentary course and became law, there were large numbers of Canadians—in the general public, in the media, a good many members of Parliament and it came up in question period—who were making the case that upon the change of the legal regime in Bill C-45 the issue of criminal records needed to be dealt with.
Therefore, in the course of our work on Bill C-45, we began considering the alternatives for how you could respond to the criminal records issue in a way that was fair and equitable, effective and efficient. It was really in response to what appeared to be a very broad public consensus. We brought forward the legislation. It would seem to be contradictory to change the law in Bill C-45 but not deal with the issue of previously existing records. That was the very broad public comment that we responded to.