You will find that in general, people in favour of doing away with conditional sentencing tend to look at the most serious offences and say that conditional sentences cannot be justified in those cases. They say that some judges have used them, but that it should no longer be done, and that as a result, conditional sentencing should be completely abolished.
However, in the studies you have, and that are available to the committee, it says in relation to offences for which conditional sentencing is not possible that judges impose them in only 12 per cent of cases. So that remains a relatively infrequent sentence.
Could you explain to those who don't know what the circumstances are in which a maximum sentence is imposed? In Canada, those are very stiff sentences. For example, entering a home and falling asleep in front of the television could give rise to a sentence of life imprisonment. Theft over $5,000 could give rise to 10 years imprisonment.
In which cases do the courts feel obliged to impose the maximum sentence?