That's very good. Thank you very much, Ms. Dunahee.
I would like to ask a question of all the witnesses. With respect to the bill as presented, we are concerned about its potential unpleasant or unintended consequences. We cannot ignore it, which is why I'm mentioning it. Justice Major gave us his testimony earlier in the week, and he confirmed this. The Criminal Code forms a whole. When you fiddle with one section in particular, like my colleague David Wilks is trying to do here, there are consequences. The goal is entirely respectable, but sometimes there can be unintended consequences.
One thing troubled us quite a lot. In almost all reported kidnapping cases, the sentences were eight to 10 years on average, even more. In the Gillen case, in British Columbia, the woman who kidnapped a two-week-old baby received life in prison.
You might think that this works. But if we impose a minimum five-year sentence, we're afraid that this will send the message to the judicial system that a five-year sentence could be an acceptable punishment for this crime, while it might be better to impose a harsher sentence.
In addition, it could lead prosecutors to consider other avenues, to prevent the accused from not getting a lesser sentence than what we might want.
Chief Freeman, what do you think of our concern?