Justice committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. This emergency meeting arises from shocking and unprecedented leaks respecting the Supreme Court selection process. Before I discuss the issue, I will put forward a motion to the committee. I presume copies have been distributed. I will read the motion: That the Committee sit additional hours to study the leak of information surrounding the Supreme Court of Canada selection process, particularly as it pertains to the leak of information surrounding the Chief Justice of the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench; and that the Committee report its findings to the House no later than Friday, May 31, 2019.

Justice committee  Mr. Chair, this is an extremely serious issue, in terms of what took place several weeks ago when highly sensitive and confidential information about a respected jurist was leaked. Let me at the outset detail what those leaks were. On March 26, there was a leak reported by CTV News and Canadian Press that the Prime Minister had disagreed with former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould's choice to replace Beverley McLachlin on the court.

Justice committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to the witnesses. I certainly agree that this is an important study and that all Canadians should be extremely concerned by the proliferation of hate that has increased worrisomely in the last number of years. It has hit home in communities across Canada, most significantly in the horrific mosque attack in Quebec City, and we saw it just eight hours away in Pittsburgh at the Tree of Life synagogue, which I know well, because it's a couple of blocks away from where my brother lives.

Justice committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll begin with Ms. Pelletier-Marcotte. In the last part of your presentation, you touched on some of the legislative measures you would like to see the federal government undertake. You spoke about amending paragraph 265(3)(c). Would that also encompass situations in which there was intentional transmission?

Justice committee  Just to be clear in terms of my understanding, you're suggesting, in terms of this issue of non-disclosure where it is intentional, where it is deliberate, creating a specific offence, and that way other sections of the Criminal Code would not be applied, such as the one on aggravated sexual assault and other provisions in the Criminal Code.

Justice committee  I understand. Thank you for that clarification. You spoke of the federal directive issued by the former attorney general. After referring to it, you cited the Ontario directive. You talked about a suppressed viral load for six months, but I didn't catch exactly what you were talking about there, so could you perhaps elaborate on that just so I can understand?

Justice committee  Thank you. That's my time.

Justice committee  What about in the context of reckless behaviour or something that rises to a level of negligence? In most upper jurisdictions there are statutes that pertain to that, although sometimes penalties are less than intentional transmission.

Justice committee  Thank you to the witnesses. Mr. Elliott, I'll begin with you. You provided this report, and you noted that since 1989, there have been some 200 cases, involving you said 200 individuals—

Justice committee  Approximately. I just wanted to clarify. You further note that the vast majority of those cases—82%, or 163 out of 200—have occurred since January 2004. I'm trying to square those statistics with the statistics that were provided in the December 2017 Department of Justice report, which cited 59 cases between 1998 and April of 2017 involving HIV non-disclosure.

Justice committee  Between 1998 and April 2017.

Justice committee  Right.

Justice committee  Okay, thanks for the clarification. Mr. Elliott, you stated that the vast majority of cases do not involve actual transmission of HIV—fair enough—but at least looking at the reported cases cited by the Department of Justice, the 59 non-disclosure cases that were reported involve other blameworthy conduct, including the deliberate non-use of antiretroviral medication, active misrepresentation of HIV-positive status, absence of remorse, cases involving vulnerable complainants.

Justice committee  I'd like a recorded vote.

Justice committee  On all of it, but start with the amendment.