Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Minister, for appearing again.
I want to say, first of all, that form 34.1 is an excellent idea. I think all of us who have had some experience in listening to or hearing about cases before provincial courts know that in some cases the issue of an ask for restitution is missed. It's a very good housekeeping item. I know that most competent prosecutors and provincial court judges and police forces don't miss them, but it's a very good housekeeping measure, I would say.
I do want to ask you two questions about this bill, Mr. Minister. One is based on what must be a difficult job for a judge, in certain circumstances involving what we're now calling white collar crime, to grapple with. The second question can only be posed to you in the House because you've had such a long history in justice issues.
The first question comes from the Red Deer Advocate. It's a very difficult case involving a 49-year-old woman who stole more than $5,000 from her company. In sentencing, the judge was really between a rock and a hard spot because that woman was a single mother and caregiver of foster children, and the need to put her away had to be balanced with respect to community interests. At the time I had this article I don't know what the judge did, but I want you to comment on the hard case that this presents for a judge in a case where there is white collar crime and where prosecutors are making statements in court that white collar crime has a major impact on our society, and the federal government wants to introduce legislation to enhance penalties for white collar criminals.
I want to be sure from you, Mr. Minister, that judges won't be handcuffed when looking at cases of where to put a person like this—this 49-year-old single mother—in prison, and won't necessarily be goaded towards that.
The second question, then, is about your experience in 1992, if you can remember back that far. I, of course, was just a young lawyer. You were involved with Mr. Mulroney's government at that time when they adopted early day parole in cases involving people who had been involved in fraud for the same sections of the code we're dealing with. At the same time, that government moved towards being tougher with violent offenders. The point of the article here is that there has been a move away from that because this was all before Madoff, before Lacroix, and there has been recognition from all sides of the House, I think, that white collar crime at the higher level needs to be recognized with tougher sentences. What I'm saying is, do you recognize in the criminal justice issues that governments as astute and strong as Mr. Mulroney's in 1992 moved away from being tough on criminals, recognizing that there has to be a balance as to what is more prevalent in the day? In that time, white collar crime was not a priority, would you say?
So there are two questions.