As I said before, there's more than one purpose, but I'd say that the number one purpose is denunciation of the offence. Perhaps I can best answer your question by giving you the example I wanted to give, if that's all right, and it's from the prosecutor's perspective.
For example, an offender committed multiple firearms offences related to the importation of illegal firearms—23 illegal handguns that could cause an enormous amount of harm—from the U.S. into Canada. The MO to avoid detection was to hide the guns in the wheel of a car. They were brought from the United States and destined for distribution in Canada. That means 23 illegal guns were destined for Canada. The accused was participating in a scheme where they exported and trafficked marijuana into the U.S. and then used the proceeds to purchase guns, which they subsequently smuggled into Canada. The provincial crown attorney for Ontario asked for ten years. The sentence handed down by the court was two years less a day, plus two years probation.
Under this bill, not only would the minimum go up, but I would argue that if we get the particular amendment that I spoke to before, it would have an inflationary effect. We base it upon the offences before us, not solely on the wide sociological evidence.