Before asking the John Howard Society to comment, I have one last question. We have no information with respect to the recidivism rate. I hope we will get some before moving to clause-by-clause consideration of this bill.
Do you have any information about courts or judges who, when dealing with cases involving serious violence, have handed down or permitted sentences to be served in the community, even when that could be considered an affront to common sense? In terms of available sanctions, we all know that this is a marginal occurrence that accounts for only about 6 per cent of sentences and affects a little less than 34,000 people.
Have any of you any information to suggest that there have been abuses and that, in cases that could be seen as an affront to the collective conscience, the courts have a general tendency to use this tool inappropriately? I'm talking about a general trend here. Judges may make poor rulings; we are all aware of that, but I think that it is with that in mind that we should cast our vote.