Mr. François Lareau, LL.M.
55-890 Cahill Dr. W.
OTTAWA ON K1V 9A4

Dear Mr. Lareau:

Thank you for your letter of September 9, 1998 concerning the reform of the General Part of the Criminal Code.  It was brought to the attention of the Commissioners at their meeting of October 2, 1998, along with the other documentation that you had previously forwarded to the Commission.

After careful consideration of the matter, Commisioners unanimously concluded that reforming the General Part of the Criminal Code should not become a priority for the work of the Commission.  As you will note from the attached Strategic Agenda, adopted last year following extensive public consultation, the Commission has chosen a thematic approach for its reserach.  This approach does not lend itself to projects that begin with an examination of specific statutes.  It is our hope that this will lead to a better understanding of how law operates in Canadian society and may, eventually, result in legislative amendments, including changes to the Criminal Code.

Also attached for your information is the Commission Policy on Intervention in Public Debate which we referred to in a previous correspondence.  It clearly states our intention to limit our participation in policy debates to issues that have been the subject of our research and consultation.

We thank you very much for your interest in the work of the Commission and hope to benefit from your further input in the future.

Sincerely,
[signature]

Bruno Bonneville
Executive Director

attach."