As Mr. Hyer has pointed out, his amendment would have the effect of removing the mandatory minimum term of imprisonment for the killing of a law enforcement animal, and of course the intent of our legislation is to create such a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment. It's the government's position that a mandatory minimum penalty under Bill C-35 would not result in the imposition of a grossly disproportionate sentence which would be found to be cruel and unusual punishment under the charter.
We note that the Supreme Court of Canada has set a high bar for what constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the charter, and the government believes that where a law enforcement animal is killed while assisting a law enforcement officer, the offence prosecuted is by indictment a mandatory minimum sentence of six months and is a reasonable and proportionate means of denouncing such an offence, and that's one of the intents of courts of law.
It's worth noting that Quanto's killer was sentenced for a total of 26 months, of which 18 months were attributed to the killing of the animal, so we'll be opposed to the amendment, sir.