Mr. Chairman, as I said to Mr. Woodworth, we must have been channeling your hero, Mr. J.R.H—if I've got his initials rights—Kirkpatrick, Judge Kirkpatrick, in preparing this amendment. If you read along with me, our proposal for subsection (4.12) is:
A court may delay imposing a punishment on a person convicted of an offence under subsection (4.11) to enable the person to make reparations for harm done to victims and the community. If the person makes reparations that, in the opinion of the court are appropriate, the court may impose a punishment that is less than the minimum punishment provided for in that subsection.
Given your earlier remarks, I hope that we may find some support on the other side for this innovative approach, which we think will go a long way to meet the request of the Dominion Command of the Royal Canadian Legion to allow for restorative justice and allow offenders to take responsibility for their actions, to repair the harm they have done by apologizing to a group of veterans or with community service. We think that would be very positively regarded by the Dominion Command of the Canadian Legion, and I'm sure legionnaires across the country if this provision was adopted.