Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Piragoff and Ms. MacLean. I know, Mr. Piragoff, you've had a great career in the justice department, spanning several decades. Thank you very much for your insight today. It's much appreciated.
One of the interesting comments and things that you pointed out is that, yes, there have been increases in the expense within the criminal justice system—and certainly some of that, of course, is attributable to inflation over the last 10 years, so that would be expected in just about everything. But I think we can also make the case that, when we do spend money in the criminal justice system, it overall has a positive effect with respect to the administration of justice and indeed even the crime rate in terms of moving forward on those.
That being said, you made a couple of interesting points, one of them with respect to bail. I'm not quite sure why that has continued to increase, the times. There were those who made the case a number of years ago that, when the two for one credit.... While they were waiting for their trial or the disposition of their case, people would get a credit if they were being detained in provincial institutions or in custody. But with the removal of that as a main factor in terms of the overall sentencing, what other insight do you think you may be able to give to us about what's happening?
You made the very legitimate point that, if the individual pleads guilty, the disposition is actually fairly quick, and that makes sense, but I'm not quite sure why or what's happening within the system that it's taking so much longer for individuals to get bail, get released, or get their case heard. I think you pointed out Nova Scotia in particular and others. There has been a considerable increase over the last number of years. Do you have any thoughts on that?