Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Yes, this is definitely a tough issue, and for me personally. My family was a victim. My cousins were murdered just a few short years ago, an entire family wiped out by a mass killer. As somebody who has family who have gone through this—in that case, the killer did not live—I would want to know, if the killer were alive, that I would be consulted by Correctional Service Canada before any decisions were made on a transfer.
That's the thing about bureaucracies. Bureaucracies left unchecked have a tendency to become unemotional and legalistic, and sometimes the rights of victims and their families aren't put as the highest priority. It's our job, as parliamentarians who represent the people, who represent these victims' families, to make sure that the Government of Canada always puts the rights of victims and their families first. That's why I believe it is an essential role of this committee to review this.
There might be some arguments made that this committee might not have time to do something like this. Those are wrong. Judging by the schedule that we discussed in subcommittee, we have at least eight meetings potentially available before Christmas. I believe that we're being very reasonable in proposing five meetings on this subject. If there's an issue with five meetings, I know that we would be open to further discussion on that matter.
With that, I'll cede the floor.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.