This is perhaps a classic Canadian compromise, but in the bid to get rid of capital punishment, the trade-off was a sentence for first-degree murder, which was likely unheard of in terms of its length in other Commonwealth and similar countries. So it may have been the political cost, if you will, of winning the battle against capital punishment. But it has resulted in an incarceration rate that we as Canadians should not be proud of. We are neck and neck with the United States, and at that point much further ahead than other countries.
I think you're right. I'm not sure there's a difference in the charging, necessarily. I think it's just a difference in the availability of sentencing discretion and parole discretion.