Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I'd like to take this opportunity to just make a very short comment about the motion and in support of the motion, but also to say something about how...I can't think of a word, but I guess "good" is a good word; how good it feels to have this Human Rights Commission up and running. I feel like I've watched there from its inception and for the longest time we were the only jurisdiction, or one of the very few jurisdictions in Canada without our own Human Rights Commission and it's really rewarding, I guess that's the word, to see the project start from the beginning and how the consultation, wide consultation was held. Sometimes in this House we don't always see the results of the work we do in a short time frame, and I know for many it was a long time, but eventually we do see an entity like this get started and I know that this office has been very busy dealing with quite a number of cases; more cases than they had ever thought would come around to that office in that short a time. So I just wanted to make a comment on that.
With respect specifically to the motion, this was a revelation to me that in our legislation we did not give consideration for systemic remedies, because I would think that in many of those issues where there are human rights violations or where people are being discriminated against on grounds that are covered under the act, there would be many occasions where it would be more than one instance and it would apply to more than one person, and if we find that an organization or an industry is doing something, or the government department or government agency, I think that's what's covered in this legislation, continues to do the same thing over and over and over, you would think that it would be legislatively more prudent to have an option there to make systematic changes so that the commission and the commissioners don't have to address the same issue or similar issues or similar facts or situations over and over again.
I do think that, and I do agree with a little bit of caution, in this motion to give us time and room for us to work through the details of what the implications are of this if we were to approve systematic changes. So I would like to take this opportunity to speak in support of the motion and vote in support of the motion, and to ask the government to do its due diligence to inquire and find out as to what the situation is in other jurisdictions and how other human rights legislation are covering these sorts of systematic issues. I think it's my understanding that other jurisdictions already have these provisions, although not all of them have them. I always thought that our legislation was more progressive and it was more up to date than most other legislation, so I don't know how or why we missed this element.
Let me just finish by saying I support this motion and I look forward to seeing the work that the department will bring back in response to this recommendation. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.