Definitely, the penalties in this new bill are quite a bit lower. There are no mandatory minimums. I've been at this now for six and a half years, almost seven years, and I'm still trying to get something that everybody says should be a no-brainer. This is public safety that people are talking about and Canadians are asking for, and they're wondering why our government does not take this as seriously as it should. They keep asking why our penalties are so low in Canada.
Maybe somebody can address that for me, because impaired driving deaths are the number one criminal cause of death in Canada. It is tying up our courts, but the penalties are so low.
Most people realize.... I mean, it's common knowledge. I work in an RCMP detachment. I hear police officers saying that the criminals come in and they go. It's common knowledge. You can do the crime, because you're not going to serve any time. People are dying here, and these drivers are getting a $100 fine, seven weekends in jail. What does that tell the rest of the public? That tells them they can drink and they can drive, or they can do drugs and they can drive, and the penalties are next to nothing. That has to change, ladies and gentlemen. That has to change.