Justice committee  Thank you for the question. I don't have the specifics for the charging breakdown for summary conviction versus indictment. We talked previously, and Ms. Wells talked previously, as to why the criteria have been set the way they've been set. Certainly, in a case in which the Crown believes there is a risk and it wants the mandatory registration, it has the option to proceed indictably.

Justice committee  Thank you for the question. In the current subsection 486.4(1), the language specifies “victims” and “witnesses” in the stated law. It appears to us that the amendment proposes to replace the reference to “witness” generally with “witness under the age of 18”. That appears to be done to mirror subsequent subsections of section 486.4.

Justice committee  Certainly the purpose of section 486.4 was to provide certainty to victims and witnesses in the sexual offences listed that if an application for a publication ban was made, it would be given. You will know—as you've heard—that the reason for that was to encourage the reporting of offences that are historically under-reported.

Justice committee  The bill seeks to codify a process for revocation or modification. Today, it is a common law process. It applies where it can be shown that there is a material change in the circumstances. The courts have acknowledged that if the recipient of the publication ban no longer wishes to have the publication ban, that constitutes a material change in circumstances.

Justice committee  Thank you for the question. As I think the minister articulated on Tuesday, we don't have national statistics on that information. After the committee appearance on Tuesday, we went back and asked Statistics Canada what information they do collect. The reason we were given as to why they don't collect the information is that this is a procedural order that is made in the course of a trial.

Justice committee  Absolutely, they do collect information on the number of charges that are laid by police officers and the number of outcomes reported by courts. I think your question speaks to the capacity to collect that information, but they don't currently collect that information.

Justice committee  They do. They have a—

Justice committee  They don't currently collect it. That's all I can provide.

Justice committee  I would answer it this way: Publication bans are imposed for the benefit of the victim or the witness, first and foremost. The interests of the accused are not taken into account in terms of determining whether the publication ban could be imposed. Incidentally, the consequence of the publication ban imposed to protect a victim could also result in protecting the identity of the accused, if reporting on the identity of the accused would identify the victim.

Justice committee  That's correct. The accused doesn't have standing on these matters. As I said, a publication ban doesn't benefit them. We do have some case law. I would just have to dig it up for you.

Justice committee  That's correct. The law is clear that a publication ban is in place to protect the identity of a victim or witness, not to benefit the accused.

Justice committee  There are amendments in Bill S-12 that were passed by the Senate and that speak to the issue of the accused. The concern that was discussed in the Senate when those amendments were debated was whether that would suggest to the courts or the criminal justice system that an accused currently has an interest in these proceedings and that Parliament is presumed to be acting for a reason.

Justice committee  There are a number of different places in the bill that speak to the obligations of the court and the prosecutor to engage with the victim. There is language that speaks to the obligation to inform a victim or witness of their right to apply to revoke or vary a publication ban.

Justice committee  Thank you for the question. In essence, you explained the Crown prosecutor's role. There are a number of ways to inform victims about the criminal justice system. I think the government recognized that it's important to strike a balance between adequately informing the victim and respecting the Crown prosecutor's role.

Justice committee  It was the day before.