It is a serious concern. I don't have personal experience in this, because this seems to be a more recent phenomenon since the time when I was practising law, but in speaking to some of the crown attorneys and others, I am told that the defence lawyers are telling their clients simply to plead not guilty, don't apply for bail, do your time in remand because you're going to get, for example, in the Don Jail, three days to one. So if you know you're guilty, just do your time in remand. Essentially, you'll only get sentenced to about one-third of the time because you're getting three days of credit.
Now, I can't comment on whether that is true or not. That's what I'm being told. I know that was a controversy in Manitoba as well. The Attorney General of Manitoba raised that particular point. It is something the federal-provincial working group is looking at. It's something that has developed as a result of judicial discretion.
So whether we have to respond to that legislatively or whether it's an appropriate exercise of judicial discussion, I'm not in a position to say. I think it's something this committee should be looking at.