Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Chief Blair, for being here with us.
That's the theme of what we want to do. It's to be a partner. We know you are doing a great job here in Toronto, but there is a role, obviously, for us as people who draft amendments to the Criminal Code and are caretakers of the Criminal Code. We also have to pull our weight.
I want to have you maybe expand a bit on a few comments that you made. First, you made the point about the continued violence of a number of individuals. When we look at the population of your city, Toronto, we're actually talking about a small number, percentage-wise, of individuals who are creating the problems, the headlines, and the escalation in violence. You also mentioned that there's no one answer, but with some of the work you're doing, the work we can do, and the work of other stakeholders in the community, together we can try to prevent what's going to happen.
Could you comment a bit on where we are dealing with a relatively small number of people? I know it's a lot for your police force because you're dealing with a number of individuals, but when we look at the millions of people who live in Toronto, we're actually dealing with a small percentage who are causing the problem.
How do you feel the escalating offences proposed in the bill—the five-year minimum on a first offence, seven on a second, and ten on a third—fit with targeting repeat offenders? You used an example that I think is pretty telling, in that in one community there had been ten murders one year, and when you finally were able to get those few individuals off the street, the next year there were no murders. That's what we are trying to do with this bill: get the people who are really causing the problem off the street.
Could you comment a bit on maybe the escalating nature of these offences?