Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thanks to the minister for being here.
I have a few questions on the bill. Obviously at some point a line was drawn to indicate that offences with a ten-year maximum sentence were more serious than offences with a lower maximum. So some previous governments, when dealing with the Criminal Code, indicated that those were more serious offences.
The concern I have in my riding is that regarding car theft or another offence with a maximum ten-year sentence, but which wouldn't be categorized as violent—such as theft over $5,000, breaking and entering with the intent to commit an indictable offence, or being unlawfully in a dwelling house—these are in fact serious offences in my constituents' and my own view, and I think in Canada's view, since we all hear about them as members of Parliament.
Could you please comment a bit on what you and the department have heard in consultation with jurisdictions on the seriousness of what we call property offences? As members of Parliament, we hear complaints about a break and enter, and that someone with a serious problem with recidivism—with multiple offences and convictions—received a conditional sentence regarding this property offence, yet he or she is serving time, so to speak, in the very community where the offence was committed.