Thank you, Beth.
Bill C-5 eliminates the barriers of conditional sentence considerations for some very serious offences, such as kidnapping, human trafficking, criminal harassment and sexual assault. Adult offenders who commit these heinous crimes can now argue, post-conviction, that they should serve their denunciatory sentences in the comfort of their own homes.
As I described to you from my capacity as a former Crown attorney, prosecutors have a very low success rate in securing criminal convictions in this area. Coupled with the significant and long-lasting, if not permanent, trauma associated with this crime, it's no small wonder that there is under-reporting to law enforcement.
What kind of message does this send to victims of sexual abuse? Had you not come forward when you did and reported your experiences, would you have done so if Bill C-5 was now the law in Canada?