Yes, Mr. Chairman. This amendment seeks to address what we in effect are here to denounce, the kidnapping of young persons, but by dealing with it in a more principled form in the sentencing and not by way of a mandatory minimum—in other words, by making age and vulnerability the sentencing factors.
This takes into account the concerns that have been raised about whether 14 or 16 is the appropriate age marker for the offence, as well as the issue of those captured by the offence perhaps unnecessarily—for which examples have been given before. It also acknowledges that age is not the only issue here, but that vulnerability could also cover attributes such as a physical or mental disability, which may make a kidnapping particularly heinous.
My main point here, Mr. Chairman, is that we should be able to trust the judges. We should have sentencing factors that allow for the appropriate exercise of discretion for principled sentencing purposes, factors that do not detract from the objective of denunciation—which the mandatory minimum seeks to do—but ones that not only reaffirm the approach to denunciation but allow for the proper exercise of judicial discretion in a more effective and principled fashion.