Thank you to all the witnesses.
One of the things we've heard today at committee and in the past in dealing with other bills is that even if this bill impacted on getting one or two guys who would have gotten bail not getting bail, at the discretion of the judge, but because of the change in onus the judge errs on the side of keeping someone who might otherwise be out on bail—
We've heard testimony that in Toronto and other cities a relatively small number of people are creating the problem, the recidivists, the gang members, and that when the small number of people are taken off the streets and are in custody, the police and those jurisdictions see a profound impact on overall crime in the area. We heard from a chief in Toronto that when they took a small number of individuals off the street in one neighbourhood, the crime rates dropped dramatically in that neighbourhood just because of a few people. I'm wondering if you can comment a bit on that.
I don't think anyone is interested in locking up all kinds of people. I think the focus is on repeat offenders, who in the current system are not getting the message. They continue to victimize Canadians. We want to, in a very cohesive and strategic way, target those people and say if they aren't getting the message about criminal justice and about targeting innocent Canadians, they're not going to be on the street; they're going to be in jail. That has to be coupled with resources for police and coupled with prevention. But this is a very specific bill, part of our legislative package. I wonder if any of you want to comment on what you've seen about who's committing the crime and what happens when they're off the street.