Justice committee  Good morning, Madam Chair and honourable members of the committee. My name is Jody Berkes, and I'm the chair of The Canadian Bar Association's criminal justice executive. We're pleased to present you with our report, “No Turning Back: CBA Task Force on Justice Issues Arising fro

Justice committee  I will, just very briefly. In terms of these remote areas, they would receive the most benefit from having virtual hearings. However, I would like to stress that a trial process does require that all parties come together in the same location so that the solemnity of the occasio

Justice committee  Thank you very much for your question. It's probably a trite statement at this point that the new currency in the new electronic world is personal data. Our data is constantly being monitored, harvested and used to target us with advertising. The federal Privacy Act legislation

Justice committee  Thank you, Jessica. The criminal offences listed in our submission already cover activities that fall within the category of elder abuse. Furthermore, some of the offences, for example, theft by a person holding power of attorney in section 331 of the Criminal Code, already addr

Justice committee  With your permission, Madam Chair, I can answer that. Thank you for that really important question, which deals with enforcement. The Criminal Code is there to enforce just sanctions against people who commit criminal offences. In the context of domestic assaults, to borrow an

Justice committee  Thank you, Madam Chair, for the question. I am sorry if I misstated this earlier. To be clear, I do not believe any amendments to the Criminal Code are necessary. We need more vigorous enforcement of the offences that are already there. As the member pointed out quite rightly,

Justice committee  Certainly, we need to start on the ground. Organizations such as CanAge and others have done a brilliant job of educating the police on how to investigate these types of offences in a careful, considered and victim-focused fashion. We need to ensure that the police who prosecut

Justice committee  Thank you very much for the question, Madam Chair. It's a very good question, and I think the member brings up an interesting point. In that proposed legislation, there is no element that's different from the current element of criminal negligence. All of the elements are exact

Justice committee  Thank you for the question. In terms of the suggestion that there isn't a specific offence called “elder abuse”, neither is there a specific offence called “domestic abuse”. It's captured under “domestic assault”. “Domestic assault” is a basket term, but the offence of simply as

Justice committee  Certainly, Madam Chair. Thank you for the question. It's an important question, because once again, I think the committee is focused on writing legislation that will somehow magically make this problem disappear and prosecute people. Even new legislation is going to require evid

Justice committee  I will try to confine it to 60 seconds. In terms of what is there right now, if someone is found guilty or convicted, they can be placed on probation for a period of up to three years with conditions. One of the conditions would be a prohibition on their working with the elderly

Justice committee  In terms—

Justice committee  I agree. I concur. There's a difference between evidence and charges. Having national standards would provide that metric, that evidence needed in a prosecution in order to secure a conviction. A breach of that standard is prima facie evidence.

Justice committee  Good morning, Madam Chair and honourable members of the committee. My name is Jody Berkes, and I am chair of the Canadian Bar Association's criminal justice section. I join you today from the traditional territory of the Wendat, the Anishinabek Nation, the Haudenosaunee Confede

Justice committee  I think more information is better. All participants in the justice system should receive comprehensive information about their rights and responsibilities, regardless of what offence they either face or are involved in as complainants. I don't know if we need to single out any