Justice committee  The risks of removing a publication ban need to be clearly explained. What does this mean in terms of media engagement, people taking your story and your experience and broadcasting that without your consent if the ban has been removed? It's really important that's understood. Within the justice system we have this opportunity to provide better information across the board.

Justice committee  It's taking a step back and saying, who is this about? The system exists because someone was harmed, and often they're peripheral to the process. That really has to be the starting point—that we look at who was harmed, what justice looks like and what's required—and have that be centred in the process.

Justice committee  I have sympathy for that conflict of interest that I've been hearing about. I think independent legal advice is one of the most important components for survivors. It's a complaint that we have—that even though programs providing independent legal advice exist, nobody has the responsibility to inform victims when they report a sexual assault that they can access those programs.

Justice committee  Thank you. It's nice to see you again. Madam Chair and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to speak on Bill S‑12, an act to amend the Criminal Code, the Sex Offender Information Registration Act and the International Transfer of Offenders Act. I acknowledge that we are on the traditional unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin nation.

Justice committee  I think it's important to consider the compound effect on survivors of violent crime of a number of legislative pieces that are happening right now. When we have questions about intoxication, when the Supreme Court strikes down the mandatory reporting on sex offender registration and when victims see measures like mandatory minimum penalties being dismantled, I think there is work to do to ensure that we are considering the rights and protections of victims.

Justice committee  Across Canada, we have diverse responses to victimization. Each province and territory has different mechanisms for funding and supporting services. What we see in many places would be some sort of generic service for victims of crime that any type of survivor can access. In Ottawa, we have Ottawa Victim Services.

Justice committee  I love that question. I do have a limited jurisdiction, in terms of looking at federal legislation while the administration of justice in a lot of victim services is in the provincial and territorial jurisdiction. However, we have really wonderful groups like the federal-provincial-territorial working group for victims of crime that's bringing together provincial stakeholders with federal stakeholders, sharing information and really starting to consider some of the ways we can improve services across the country.

Justice committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Chair. I think a number of lawyers across the country are probably nervous about the direction of that question, but it's very intriguing and we can do a better job of exploring the standing of victims in the court process. There are other countries where there are more rights in place around legal representation for victims, and there are pros and cons to the different approaches to it.

Justice committee  Mr. Chair, we can certainly look at some language and recommendations. I think you'll probably receive a lot of helpful input through the committee hearings about the way the language could be used and interpreted. I think that for something as significant as this—because, as I mentioned, alcohol intoxication is present in so many contexts of violence—having a plain language summary at the top of the bill—even within the Criminal Code—that articulates the essence of what's being said, followed by the legal language, which I understand is important, could help to clarify.

Justice committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. There are parallels with other types of behaviour that I think need to be considered. With something like psychosis, generally it's understood that it's a partial break from reality or a partial difference in perception. I think the way we're talking about extreme intoxication may be oversimplified in reality, and we need to consider the fluidity of the impacts of extreme intoxication.

Justice committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Chair. I don't believe that it will be a common defence. I think there is a high threshold that's established in the law, but we do need to monitor it to ensure it doesn't become more common. As was raised earlier, I think a part of the concern about the bill was that there was some misunderstanding about what it meant, and I think some of that would still be part of this process.

Justice committee  I do believe there was value in taking quick action on this matter. The misconceptions were continuing to grow, and without a legislative response or a response from the House, I do believe they would have caused further harm to survivors of sexual assault and partner violence and other forms of victimization.

Justice committee  Thank you for the question. I believe that an appropriate way of collecting the data would be to look at every instance of the defence being used in court and look at success factors and when it's unsuccessfully used. It would be to look at the nature of the cases where it's being used and evaluate whether it is disproportionately affecting violence against women, as we've seen in the past.

Justice committee  Yes, there's an excellent research centre at Western University where some of that data is being monitored.

Justice committee  It's a great question. Mr. Chair, in general in Canada, we have work to do to balance the system with regard to the rights of offenders and the rights of victims, where the rights of offenders are guaranteed under the charter, and victims typically have to ask for their rights to be respected, and there's no recourse for them to follow up outside of the complaints mechanism, which is part of why our office is vitally important to victims and survivors of crime.