It's reasonable to expect that the reforms to CSOs will place a greater demand on treatment programs at the outset. However, mandatory minimum penalties are extremely costly in the criminal justice system, and they increase charter challenges. What ends up happening is that if we implement the reforms in Bill C-5, we expect that over time, while there will be an initial increase in requests for treatment and programs, we'll see long-term reductions in recidivism and more efficient ways of dealing with crime.
