Justice committee  I hadn't thought of that, but it might be a scenario that would apply, yes.

Justice committee  To answer your second question first, I am confident that it's drafted to that standard. There's a necessity standard at stake. That's a high standard for a judge, and they well know what that means. It's very high. The standard is not whether it would be convenient or useful. It's a necessity standard, so it's high.

Justice committee  I cannot conceive of such a situation, because the necessity standard would always apply. Anyone, including a member of the media, can bring an application to review this order. Any judge ruling on the extension or prolongation of such an order would have to assess whether it continues to be necessary.

Justice committee  As I've indicated, the regime has been in place only since September 19 and we have no real life experience with it yet. We must remember that one of the reasons for the regime is to encourage corporations to co-operate with investigative authorities and prosecutors and to provide information and perhaps evidence, if they agree to it, that would assist in the investigation or prosecution of others involved in corruption or bribery.

Justice committee  My colleague is a prosecutor who deals with these issues on the ground. As someone who was a prosecutor many years ago, I would say that in cases like this, the investigators and the prosecution often have some leeway in the timing of matters and can arrange things so as to minimize any risk that might arise from the context you've outlined.

Justice committee  I think it's important to remember that the entire design, almost the default, is publication. The entire design is to emphasize transparency. That was very much intentional. When you're dealing with the prosecution of criminal matters, it's anathema to do it behind closed doors.

Justice committee  Thank you.

Justice committee  Thank you, Chair. Division 20 of the BIA, no. 2 deals with amendments to the remediation agreement regime in the Criminal Code. As I'm sure this committee is well aware, our remediation agreement is a voluntary agreement between an organization accused of committing a listed offence and a prosecutor to stay the proceedings related to that offence if the organization complies with the terms of the agreement.