Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to both of the witnesses for appearing today on this important piece of legislation that could have a profound affect on our communities.
I'd like to ask my first question of Mr. Wall. Thank you for your testimony, sir.
The government would sometimes have people believe that these are non-serious offences somehow and, therefore, not deserving of jail time. Some of these offences have been on the books since the seventies. The minimum penalty, certainly through reforms to the Criminal Code, remained intact and many have been upheld in court cases.
I want to bring your attention to a few. We have robbery with a firearm, extortion with a firearm, weapons trafficking, using a firearm in the commission of an offence and possession for the purpose of weapons trafficking. These sound like serious offences to me that are at the root of some of the gun and gang problems that we have in this country. What message do you think it sends to the criminal element?
You mentioned the word “impunity”. I thank you also, sir, for mentioning a word we don't hear often enough, which is “victims”. Too often, victims have lost their voice on how they would react to this legislation. We've been hearing a bit from victims, but thank you for mentioning them.
What message do you think it sends to criminals to soften the offences for gun crimes?