Mr. Chair, quite often the government will come before committee and will say that they're modelling something after country X. That happens a lot.
This amendment takes that into consideration. It's not a Liberal Party idea. I'm just advancing what another European country has done. If you apply it to Canada, even our own judicial system acknowledges that there's a difference between an 8-year-old and a 28-year-old. We have a completely different system set up to recognize that. From an immigration point of view, we're not acknowledging that fact. We're saying that they're all one.
Keep in mind that what we're talking about is more than 1.5 million people who call Canada their home. If you believe that out of that 1.5 million people there are not going to be people who will fall on the other side of the law periodically, and hopefully it doesn't become a permanent thing, then you're awfully naive. Out of 1.5 million people, there will be some people who unfortunately will make stupid decisions.
Does it justify deporting them? Yes, in some cases, no doubt it does. We hear of those extreme cases that the Minister of Immigration brings up, but equally at the other end there are going to be individuals, as a result of this legislation's passing, who will be deported when they should not be. This amendment is just one way of saying maybe we should step back a little and recognize that France has had it in place for a period of time and it seems to be working.
We as a country have recognized that there's a difference between age 8 and age 28, so why wouldn't we do likewise?
A conditional sentence is given because the judicial system, and particularly the judge, has made the determination that it's okay for the community; that, given the circumstances around the crime that was committed, this is the disposition, and that it's okay to have that disposition in the form of a conditional sentence, that it's safe to society. The judge likely believes that the individual might be a first-time offender and that it's quite appropriate to give that conditional sentence.
All we're doing is recognizing the same sort of rights, in part at least, that we already give.
I'm ready to vote, Mr. Chair.