Mr. Speaker, I would just like to finish answering comments on the bill. Through you, Mr. Speaker, for the new people watching on television and in the gallery today, I would like to review what we are talking about.
The bill provides for the transfers of offenders from one country to another if they happen to be put in a jail that is not in their home country, and it makes for better rehabilitation. A bill has been in effect since 1978 and this bill amends that bill to improve on it.
The amendments would expand the classes of categories of when the transfers could be made. It also would expand the jurisdictions, where Canada has these agreements, to some non-sovereign states and jurisdictions such as Taiwan and Hong Kong. It would expand from whom the consent must come. That is it would ensure that prisoners themselves would consent as well as provincial and territorial governments if the sentence were under two years because they would have to pay for that incarceration. It also would mandate that the prisoner must be informed and must give his consent to that transfer.
Based upon those comments, I will answer further questions.