Mr. Chair, the amendment we are proposing will not strengthen the future act, but it will make it better understood and better adapted to the realities of Quebec and Canada as a whole. Parliamentarians will be called on to discuss these important matters as the need arises. We agree that certain decisions may be made by public servants. That is always the way things are done, and I am aware of that. However, under clause 139, some important decisions are going to be made by officials.
As I just said, paragraph 139(1)(z.3) of the bill refers to the classification of violations as “minor, serious or very serious”. Paragraph 139(1)(z.4) refers to setting “a maximum amount as the penalty for minor violations, for serious violations, or for very serious violations”. This means that everything that has been done in committee since yesterday regarding penalties will be practically useless, since officials will be able to set the categories of violations of the law and modulate the penalties to be applied in consequence. This seems important to us.
The same thing applies to paragraphs 139(1)(z.5) and (z.6), which discuss “circumstances under which [...] a penalty for a violation may be increased or reduced”. Isn't that what we have been doing since yesterday? My colleague from Vancouver Kingsway Mr. Davies has rightly insisted on the importance that needs to be given to penalties in the bill. Do we want them to be serious, less serious? How will we adjust those penalties with regard to all of the violations listed in the Criminal Code and according to the relative seriousness of the different violations? It is important that we examine all that.
Regarding the issues raised by Mr. Davies, I see now that a public servant sitting in his office will be able to set aside all of the work we have done and decide which violations are minor, serious or very serious, and adjust the penalties in any way he or she deems appropriate.
If the act is to be accepted by all of the population and adapted to the realities of Canada as a whole, it seems important to us that it be discussed by parliamentarians, at the very least regarding issues that appear to me to be of critical importance.