In terms of drawing comparisons between the United States and Canada, the situation is truly ideal. We live in the same environment, everyone knows that. Our socio-political and economic environments are the same. We clearly have different crime rates. In the United States, crime rates are generally higher. On our side, our incarceration practices have been quite different since 1970.
I am going to give you some more statistics. In 1970, the prison population in the United States was almost twice as high as ours. At present, it is more than seven times higher than ours. Our prison population is 105 for 100,000 inhabitants, whereas it is 750 in the United States. The Americans have a much stricter incarceration policy that cannot be considered responsible for reducing the crime rate. Other sociological factors, including demographics and economic growth, are the cause. They are important factors.
As regards special legislation, I said earlier that in the United States, about 25 or 30 states have been using “three strikes” laws since 1993 or 1994. Most states make little use of these laws. In fact, 90% of people convicted were in California, where that type of legislation is used very widely. More than 40,000 people, in other words, more than the entire prison population in Canada, are incarcerated there. Studies have not really shown that these laws have had a significant effect.
There was a second part to your question.