Thank you, Madam Chair.
We already have a national coordination centre as part of the RCMP. If the task at hand was simply to collect police data, certainly they would be able to do that, but one must remember that in all countries, particularly in Canada, very few cases come to the attention of the police. In order to get a good understanding of what the situation is out there, the cooperation of non-governmental and provincial agencies is absolutely crucial. For that purpose, I would say it is essential that this rapporteur function be outside of government and also outside of law enforcement.
I will not confuse the issue. Most countries that have made a commitment to fight human trafficking have a reporting mechanism of one sort or another. Whether it's a statistics organization or a police organization, they all produce reports. What is specific about the national rapporteur is the fact that it is an arm's-length agency that is able to work both with non-governmental organizations to take care of all those sensitivities as well as with law enforcement. That's not to say it is a small challenge, but that is what is unique about having the national rapporteur.