The experience with minimum sentences has not been very good, particularly in the United States. There have been cases, one in particular, where a federally appointed judge felt the independence of the judiciary was compromised by the minimum sentence. He resigned and campaigned against minimum sentences at various bar conventions in the United States.
The trouble in the minds of the legislators and the public at large is, “Can we trust the judges?” That's a question that comes up from time to time on a number of things. If the judge is law-and-order, he'll perhaps lean to a tougher sentence. If he's more rehabilitative-minded, he'll go the other way. But we have great confidence, and should have, in our judges. As a citizen, I feel more comfortable with them having some jurisdiction on the severity or leniency of sentence.
Remember, if he doesn't follow the principles of sentencing, the court of appeal is there. My comments with respect to the Alberta Court of Appeal came about in part because I was a member of that court. Being retired, I have full constitutional rights of freedom of speech, and it is very tempting to comment on their decisions from time to time.