Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Very briefly, I too will be voting against this proposed amendment.
With all due respect to Mr. Ménard and his nearly half century in criminal law, his reasons for introducing this amendment are counterintuitive to what the amendment says. He talks about the need for mandatory minimums and how he is not doctrinaire in his opposition to mandatory minimums, but then he introduces an amendment which essentially allows a court to ignore mandatory minimum sentences, if in the opinion of that court there are compelling circumstances to do so.
I will be voting no.