Philip Toone at the Justice and Human Rights Committee

Thank you.

I will try to keep it brief.

First, I would like to thank the minister for appointing someone from the Gaspé Peninsula to the Supreme Court. I have a feeling of regional pride since Suzanne Côté comes from Cloridorme, which is a very beautiful village in my riding. I have no doubt that she will be an unparalleled asset for the Supreme Court. So thank you.

I would like to briefly talk about minimum sentencing. I don't have a lot of time to talk about it.

Since the Conservative government came to power, the minimum sentencing provisions in the Criminal Code have multiplied significantly.

There are more and more trials in courts opposing minimum sentences. Has the federal workforce required to defend those provisions under the Criminal Code been increased? Is that planned for in the estimates? In our courts, how much does defending minimum sentencing provisions cost?