I agree with you 100%. We need to take care of the victims first.
The challenge with this bill.... Actually, when it started, it was a lot more encompassing, but then the decision had to be made: What was it that I thought we could all agree on? In a perfect world, in my view, we should give these victims the information ahead of time. My assumption, as well, is that, when you're dealing with a government service, it's going to be reasonable and timely in its disclosures and things like that.
However, even looking at a word like “advance” or “timely”, if you're a lawyer, what does that mean? Do you know what I mean? I could ask a lawyer what “timely” means. He might say, “within a day or two”. When I do talk to lawyers, they definitely say things like, “Well, it depends”. That argument really is beyond my scope. I'm a chiropractor by trade. I'm not a lawyer. I could play one on TV, I suppose, with my new goatee.
However, the reality is that these are the larger conversations. I know that Lisa, who inspired me on this bill, is hopeful that, if we can pass these small changes, it will make a big difference. It will also inspire us to maybe ask some more questions, simply, like you said, because I think Canadians would see it as reasonable that there's advance notice or a certain amount of time for people to be prepared in advance for some of this, especially if it's going to be so retraumatizing.