Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is correct. The provisions of this bill will not be retroactive, nor should they be.
There is a principle of criminal law, which has been reinforced by our charter, that these provisions cannot be implemented retroactively. This will only apply to individuals who are convicted of murder on a go-forward basis from the time this bill receives royal assent and is proclaimed into law. That is appropriate.
Although the situations with Mr. Olson have often been cited and family members of the victims of Mr. Olson appeared before the committee to support this bill, the member is quite correct in that this bill will have no effect on those victims.
Realistically, and sadly, we can anticipate that these types of situations will occur in the future. This is to protect future victims—