Thank you, Minister.
Ms. Flaherty-Spence, when Ms. O'Hearn passed the floor over to you, she promised that you were going to talk about Gladue. I'd like to give you an opportunity to speak a bit about the impact of this legislation on the Gladue principles. Former justice minister Irwin Cotler has said that “Bill C-32 would appear to limit the application of the Gladue principles by specifying that the sentence must be 'consistent with the harm done to victims or to the community'”.
I have a two-part question, one that arises out of testimony we heard from the Chiefs of Ontario. First of all, what is your reaction to Mr. Cotler's comments that Bill C-32 will compromise the Gladue principles? Second, given that we have enshrined in the Criminal Code provisions to deal with the unique situation of aboriginal offenders, do you not find that the absence of any such provisions in the victims bill of rights is problematic?