Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to thank all of you for your presentations. Obviously, what we're concerned about is creating safe communities. I'm a little concerned that the number of bills that have been submitted to us by the new government would lead the public to believe there is going to be a safer community. What I'm really concerned about is that if these bills pass in some form and do not work, we will further erode the public's confidence in the judicial system—something, I might add, that during the debate on these bills is happening anyway, because there are aspersions being cast on the judiciary, on the lawyers, on those involved in the criminal corrections system, and that can't be helpful.
To that end, I'd like to ask you all questions, but I want to narrow in on two groups of witnesses. They are, first, the Canadian Council of Criminal Defence Lawyers.
I want to compliment you, of course, on having a good New Brunswick lawyer in charge of your money as treasurer, Mr. Lutz. It shows good sense.
I want to ask you as lawyers whether you feel that your clients—and you can speak for your association, or the council, or for yourselves and from your own experience—would be better assets to the community if they spent time in prison rather than received conditional sentences.