Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Dunn, I understand the concern you expressed in your testimony, and I would like to ask your opinion on one aspect Mr. Spratt addressed. He said that even in murder cases, mandatory minimum sentences should be abolished and the judge should be allowed to decide on the appropriate sentence. That may make sense. Mr. Spratt gave us the example of a woman who was charged with murder for killing her abusive partner and he told us about other situations like that. According to Mr. Spratt, in such a case, the mandatory minimum sentence could be detrimental to the woman who, in the circumstances, is also a victim. I would appreciate your comments on this.
Should we indeed abolish the mandatory minimum sentence for certain lesser crimes? I don't like to call them lesser crimes, because in my opinion, when someone commits a crime, it's always important. However, I am thinking of robbery with a firearm, extortion with a firearm and trafficking in firearms. These crimes seem to me to be serious enough that the mandatory minimum sentence should be maintained so that the public has confidence in the justice system.
As for you, given what Mr. Spratt has told us about situations such as a woman accused of killing an abusive spouse, don't you think we should abolish mandatory minimum sentences in certain circumstances?