Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Harvey, you have no idea how I feel after hearing your testimony. It is hard to remain indifferent when we hear things like that. That's obvious. Unfortunately, there are a number of examples like that. But one is too many.
As the opposition critic for the status of women, I have been in contact with a broad range of women's groups, representing aboriginal women who are victims of violence or murdered women. It is not easy.
I am a new member; I have been here since May 2. We are studying Bill C-10, which is very broad and includes many pieces of legislation. It must be clear—and I agree with you—that the goal of the committee members is not to come up with a dollar sign. We are trying to find the right balance. As always, the ultimate goal is to find the best system in order to have as few victims as possible, to make sure that the victims are treated appropriately and that the offenders are dealt with. To the greatest extent possible, offenders must receive just sentences to match their offences. Otherwise, we would build prisons and put them all inside, one by one. We would then throw the key in the Ottawa River, hoping they would never get out. But that's not the case. So we must also look at rehabilitation to make sure that those people will be able to become good citizens when they return to society, as we all hope they do.
Various experts have told us that 96% of people who are released after serving a prison sentence become good citizens. So we are trying to reach a small percentage and to find the best solutions.
I am sorry we have to talk numbers. No price can be set. Mr. Woodworth asked you the question, you listed your expenses, but that will never add up to what you have experienced. There is no price for that. It cannot be quantified.
That said, my colleagues from the Québec Bar are not the first to tell us about minimum sentences. Could you tell us more about minimum penalties? I have discussed this with a number of my Conservative colleagues in order to find out why they were so keen on having those minimum penalties. What came out of those discussions is a general lack of trust in members of the judiciary. That's all. After the discussion, it became clear that we had reached the conclusion, whether right or wrong, that judges were not passing the right sentences.
I am afraid that, by imposing minimum penalties, we would be transferring the responsibility of judges to crown prosecutors. Am I right? Crown prosecutors will have to deal with some of the cases Mr. Battista talked about. Crown prosecutors and defence lawyers will continue to talk to each other prior to going before the judge. That is how the system works; there are pre-hearing conferences, and so on. Those people are going to talk among themselves. Charges are going to be laid. Is there no danger of changing the charge in order to find one that corresponds to the penalty we think is appropriate under the circumstances? Do we not run the risk of doing this exercise for nothing? There is no point in talking about costs. That is what we are saying. We are not weighing the costs to the victims against the costs to the system.