The Inquiry held a series of public meetings at which information and comments were provided to the Panel. This information and associated comments have been collated and are presented below.
At these public meetings, the Panel heard divergent points of view, conflicting information and differing experiences. It was not the purpose of these meetings to resolve these differences. Rather, the purpose was for the Panel to listen and take that information and concern into its considerations.
The following summaries of the public meetings necessarily contain information, comments or experiences that are sometimes contradictory, and that is to be expected from any diverse group of stakeholders. These meetings were not intended to serve as a poll on the issue, and the following summaries do not, nor are intended to, imply any weighting given to any particular comment or evidence.
Further, the Panel committed to report on all the concerns and comments raised at the meetings. In many cases, these went well beyond the Inquiry’s scope and Terms of Reference. Nevertheless, they are all reported here as promised.
