I'm quite sure that members of the committee are aware that impaired driving causing death is the number one cause of criminal death in Canada. I think back to a story from when I first was elected in 2004. There was a young girl who was killed on a street in Langley. There were two girls, both on bicycles. They were hit from behind by an impaired driver who was returning home, a longshoreman. They were both thrown into the ditch, and one died. If that person had been convicted of impaired driving, and if that impaired driver had been dealt with appropriately with an amendment like this, there's another life that would have been saved. Markita Kaulius's daughter likely would have been saved, and so would that little girl.
As I say, it's the number one cause of criminal death. With our abilities in health care, our medical advances, we're able to save the lives of people who in the past, not that long ago, would have died. There are so many more who are injured seriously because of impaired driving.
This isn't a deterrent; it's a safety mechanism. The courts presently are bound by precedents. Providing guidelines to the courts in Canada would provide an increase to the precedents that have been set with current sentencing.
I'm hearing from my colleagues across the way that they believe the current sentencing is adequate. What I'm hearing from Canadians and have heard for the last 13 years is that sentencing is not adequate and that they want it increased.
Thank you.