Public Safety committee  I did not want to take too much time. I will say it slowly. I'll start over again, very slowly, because it is truly a magnificent statement. In my humble opinion, it deserves your support. An individual charged with a criminal offence faces grave social and personal consequenc

Public Safety committee  I would just like to take two minutes, if you don't mind. What you could say to your constituents—and I don't believe that there is a single human being in Canada who would not understand this—is exactly what the Supreme Court stated in the Oakes case, shortly after the adoption

Public Safety committee  Perhaps I may add at this moment.... I would just point out that the provision in subsection 77(2) of the Bill relies on a summary of the evidence, which would give the injured party an opportunity to be adequately informed of the case against him. Here, the assumption is that y

Public Safety committee  Mr. Chairman, even when there has been disclosure of all the evidence and a standard of proof as rigourous as proof beyond a reasonable doubt has been applied, there have been miscarriages of justice that have resulted in absolutely horrendous human catastrophes. With all due res

Public Safety committee  The position of the Barreau du Québec is completely consistent with the one that has just been expressed. In other words, we are opposed.

Public Safety committee  Committee members are obviously well acquainted with the provisions on terrorism, that can be found in sections 83.01 and following of the Criminal Code. It is clear that the sentences that can be imposed on such individuals vary from a term of imprisonment of 10 years up to life

Public Safety committee  This is not a feeling only on the part of Pierre Poupart, barrister. The members of the Barreau du Québec's committee have always been deeply concerned about the role of counsel. Here I am talking about lawyers, as opposed to advocates. We felt that the role would be so completel

Public Safety committee  In any case, what is absolutely clear at this time, Mr. Ménard, is that the term “défenseur” is, at the very least, misleading as regards the current wording of the Bill. Furthermore, the only thing that is special about that advocate is probably the fact that he does not fit the

Public Safety committee  At the Barreau du Québec, our opinion is that, as currently drafted, this bill is not different enough from its predecessor to be considered constitutionally valid.

Public Safety committee  What the Barreau would like to see, ideally, if the choice made by Parliament does not reflect what it sees as the ideal solution, would be for the lawyer—first of all, it would have to be a lawyer—to actually be counsel for the person named in the security certificate. Of cours

Public Safety committee  I don't know whether I'm speaking on behalf of the Barreau du Québec in making the comment I'm about to make, but it seems to me, on a personal level, that we don't have different categories of lawyers in Canada and that, insofar as the right to freely choose one's advocate or re

Public Safety committee  Good morning, my name is Pierre Poupart. I am a lawyer and member of the Quebec Bar. With me today are Mr. Langlais, an immigration lawyer, and Ms. Nicole Dufour, who is in charge of the Research and Legislation Service for the Barreau du Québec. To begin with, I want to point o