Mr. Colin Menton:

I thank the Chair for those thoughts. I will make a few points in that regard. We agree with him regarding the cultural aspect. We are mindful that while we can do our level best to design a robust legal framework in this regard, we also have a shared interest in ensuring that this proposed Bill enables the wider environment in this context to work as effectively as possible for those who want to truth tell. That is important. I again agree with the Chair on that point. The proposed legislation should do all that it can to support such an environment and to ensure that it works effectively for people in these situations. A big cultural dimension is involved and that came through strongly at earlier sessions of this committee. It is something that we are mindful of and thinking about. We know we must do things in parallel with this proposed legislation to try to improve the situation in future, given the learning that we have all derived from some of the specific cases highlighted by the Chair.

We will, of course, share with the committee anything we can about other jurisdictions and how they have approached this type of protected disclosure office model. We have examined several of them, as my colleagues mentioned. We will be more than happy to share any and all information that we have to inform the thinking of the committee in that regard. I will leave it there. I thank the committee. I thank the Chair for his contributions and thoughts as well. We will take them away with us and factor them into our ongoing efforts to develop this proposed legislation.