Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Landreville, it's been clearly established, I think, that the intention of the dangerous offender legislation is to catch the worst of the worst criminals in our society who have been convicted, and to remove them so that they cannot be a threat to our society, to our families, to our children. It's been agreed that judges and crown prosecutors still will retain a tool of discretion that they can use to work within the provisions of this new legislation.
No one at this table would disagree with the fact that there's a disproportionate number of aboriginals in our penal system today. No one would disagree that there are some tremendous social problems that aboriginals can face from the time they're born until the time they grow into their teens and perhaps start getting into some problems. Those have to be fixed, and no one disagrees with that. We want to fix that.
I guess the point I want to make is that in this piece of the legislation, the dangerous offender, I would suggest that given the discretion of the judges and crown prosecutors, given the way the legislation is written, and given the intention of the legislation, the chance of this legislation being onerous because of one's culture, race, or background is in fact a lot slimmer than what some of the members opposite would suggest.
I also would suggest, Mr. Landreville, and I'd like to get your opinion on this, that when it comes to this legislation, Canadians who are concerned about the threats to their personal selves, to their families, and to their communities are concerned about the threats. Notwithstanding their cultural background, whether people are white, red, black, pink, or otherwise, if someone fits into the parameters that would cause a crown prosecutor to seek a dangerous offender designation against a person who meets all the qualifications and fits that description, Canadians care not about anything but to remove that person from society. Do you not think it's the obligation of the justice system and the obligation of the Criminal Code to provide that in order to protect our societies?
Could you respond to that, please.