You asked what Bill C-10 does. From LEAF's perspective, what Bill C-10 does is discriminate. That's what we see is the effect of Bill C-10.
I understand that the goal is to reduce violent crime, and that's a laudable goal, but we would argue that these mandatory minimum sentences don't achieve that end for the reasons I have already outlined.
In terms of deterrent effect, I think all the evidence we have supports the proposition that there is little evidence to support that mandatory minimum sentences have any deterrent effect. I think maybe it's helpful to think about deterrence in a couple of different ways to distinguish between certainty of conviction and severity of punishment, and that maybe helps to clarify why mandatory minimum sentences and the severity of punishment, as we understand it, doesn't have any effect in terms of preventing or diminishing crime.