I agree with you, I think that is a message that has to be sent. We saw this in Toronto specifically, where there was gang-related gun violence. That's what this bill primarily focuses on, the gangs who use guns and the individuals who use guns to commit offences. We saw that there were repeat offenders. We saw that people were continually victimizing in some communities. So that's where I think this community impact statement might be valuable.
At the time, all political parties--including the Liberals and NDP, but not the Bloc--were calling for tougher mandatory minimum penalties. That sometimes gets left out of their questioning, that in fact they were calling for penalties that were actually more severe than what's in this bill. But I'll leave it at that; I won't focus on it.
You mentioned the 3% who continue to reoffend. I want your thoughts on how this bill, with its escalating penalties, might address this. For the first offence, the mandatory minimum is lower than for a second and third and subsequent. There's an escalating penalty, unlike what has been proposed by others.
Can you comment a bit on that, on the escalation, and maybe even comment a bit on that 3%? What is it like to deal with them? What goes through their heads, so to speak?