Justice committee  I respect Mr. McKinnon's intervention. One point I haven't made yet, and did want to make at some point, is that Parliament is also a signal centre. That's one of the things we do. When we send signals that certain offences could be deemed to be less serious in their prosecution, we are also sending a signal to society.

Justice committee  I just want to add to Mr. Cooper's intervention and again appeal to my colleagues on the other side that these are very serious offences. They pertain to the ability of our nation to defend itself. Certainly, in my opinion, we should not have this discretion in the hands of the Crown attorneys.

Justice committee  I'm blushing.

Justice committee  Thank you, Chair.

Justice committee  Mr. Chair, I would also agree with my colleague Mr. Cooper that this should remain a solely indictable offence. This is a very serious activity, which has been connected, of course, with terrorism, with organized crime, with people who seek to do violence against other people. To have this offence as one that could conceivably be prosecuted under summary conviction, I believe, offends the common sense of the people of Canada.

Justice committee  Thank you. I do respect my honourable colleague's opinion, which is contrary to mine. I would only say in reply that while I respect Crowns as well, and they work very hard on behalf of the people of Canada, I believe these are the kinds of cases, and certainly this case is one in particular, for which rather than leaving that discretion to the Crowns, the Parliament should speak.

Justice committee  First of all, I want to thank Mr. Rankin for his intervention and the position of his party on hybridization. I of course support Mr. Cooper's amendment in this case. I want to say generally that we heard a lot of testimony at committee from those who felt very strongly that hybridization was the wrong way to go.

Justice committee  Thank you, Chair. I would like to speak to this amendment to the code by supporting it as the next-best option. I and Mr. Cooper have tabled many amendments, which we think are better amendments to the bill. In lieu of those passing, as a little bit of extra insurance—belt and suspenders, perhaps—we would be supportive of this clause passing as the next-best option.

Justice committee  Yes, District 9 was a great movie, so there you go. I just want to get the Justice officials' reaction to my question, then. If it is not defined in the way Ms. May would like, who does the defining and under what circumstances?

Justice committee  Thank you.

Justice committee  Yes, I'd like to go to that.

Justice committee  What reception is that?

Justice committee  Thank you. Apparently I'm out of time, but I thank you for your comprehensive answer.

Justice committee  Then you don't feel that this bill meets any of the concerns that you have raised over the past number of years.

Justice committee  Thank you, Ms. Arsenault. Ms. Kaulius, I wanted to give you a chance as well to talk about your interaction with the current government—the pluses, the minuses, what your experience has been.