Thank you both for being here. I have just one question.
You have mentioned some areas or communities where there were higher instances of crime. As we've travelled around on other justice bills, we've heard evidence from witnesses that it's usually a relatively small number of people who are the problem, and when that small number of people is taken off the street, in some cases there's a marked improvement in the criminal activity in that area.
Can you give a sense of whether that would be your idea of the situation in Halifax or in Nova Scotia?
We heard of the shooting, which gained national attention, outside the children's hospital some time back. I remember reading about it; I'm from your neighbouring province of New Brunswick. Sometimes it takes an incident like this, which is high profile and what the community considers outrageous, to draw people's attention to what's happening, so that now that this has impacted upon them, they are going to take an interest in what's going on.
I know you wouldn't have an exact number of how many people are involved in criminal activity, but can you give me your sense as to whether this is true? Is it a small number of repeat offenders who are the problem? If we impacted heavily upon that number, would you see a marked impact upon criminal activity in the community?