Public Safety committee  Thank you very much. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before your committee this morning. I really appreciate this because I think Bill C-51 will make it possible to increase the effectiveness of the federal witness protection program, as well as of the available provinci

Public Safety committee  Thank you for the question. There is no doubt that the decision to testify or cooperate with the authorities is an important and difficult decision to make for many witnesses and informants, particularly because we're talking very often talking about crimes that involve very dan

Public Safety committee  I would definitely agree that the new provision of psychological support is absolutely important. It probably does address a lot of the concerns that have been expressed in the past, so that is a very positive development. It's not the same though, as a psychologist is not there

Public Safety committee  There is not a whole lot of difference in terms of the criteria, but there is a growing recognition that witnesses and victims have a right to protection whether or not they're being useful—or very useful—to the system. This is perhaps not totally reflected in the law. I'm not su

Public Safety committee  All jurisdictions rely on a witness protection program like this when they have one, but only as a last resort. So it's the tail end, the extreme of the continuum, of protection practices. That's not the one we should rely on all the time. This is one of the reasons I welcome the

Public Safety committee  Yes.

Public Safety committee  It is.

Public Safety committee  Thank you for your question. Basically, as for the exemption that is created when it comes to communicating information about protectees, or about people offering protection, or about methods used in protecting people, the exception that is created for protectees is very narrow.

Public Safety committee  Thank you for your question. My recommendation was to establish an independent agency, but today, I would like to let the committee know that I am willing to allow for the benefit of the doubt to see how the proposal in the bill will address certain situations. You are quite ri

Public Safety committee  I think a measure like the one you are suggesting would be very useful, as long as it does not leave a doubt as to the continuity of the program in five or six years. You must understand that the continuity and certainty of a similar program are essential to its integrity. A well

Public Safety committee  Probably, but I don't know what to tell you.

Public Safety committee  I have thought about that and I have not come up with a suggestion that might be useful. I think those issues have to do with the management of programs in particular. I am not sure what more we can add to the bill, with one exception. My recommendation to the committee was to es

Public Safety committee  I don't think so either.

Public Safety committee  It would be complicated, but it would definitely be possible. As a general rule, in those types of prosecutions, children are rarely called upon as witnesses. They may sometimes be called as informants. Children can give us information, but it is still quite rare for children to

Public Safety committee  With that exception, in most cases, I think it is more a matter of protected children rather than child witnesses or children related to witnesses. All sorts of complications can come up. For instance, the accused can be the father of the child whose mother is a witness. You can