Mr. Speaker, I do not think that could have been the case because I have been told that multiple murderers are excluded from the faint hope provision. It is my understanding that it could never have been the case that Clifford Olson applied under the faint hope provision. However, the member still makes a good point.
Every member of this House, including members of the New Democratic Party, I argue most of all, are truly concerned about victims of crime and about the impact that any exposure to the criminal justice system has on them. Victims of crime do not choose to be the victims and, in many cases, they are the people who have suffered the harm. They are an important voice in the criminal justice system and we need to pay attention to their needs.
I would like to see legislation in which victims are given a greater voice in the justice system. I would like to see legislation that expands the concept of restorative justice, where healing becomes a better part of our system and where victims can sit face to face with their offenders. when that is appropriate and where they want to, where we can actually hear the pain of the victims. Of course, in any kind of process, it is important that we understand that victims will be sometimes traumatized by the process again and again.
In the case of the faint hope clause, if an application for early parole were dismissed for a lack of reasonable prospect of success, under the current system the chief justice or a judge may set a time for another application not earlier than two years after the dismissal. In fact, the judge may declare that the inmate will never be entitled to make another application.
The law already recognizes that victims should not be traumatized by repeat application and there are provisions in the law to deal with that. I think the member's very well-founded concern is more than adequately met by the law as it presently stands.