Mr. Chair, the purpose of this proposed amendment is similar to that of the previous proposed amendments.
We believe that mandatory minimum sentences are detrimental to the justice system because they prevent the court from considering the particular circumstances that would allow them to be waived. However, we think they are useful for sending a clear message to criminals and people who commit these types of offences, particularly firearms offences.
We therefore propose this amendment, which has been suggested to apply the same reasoning to all minimum sentences. This amendment aims to maintain minimum sentences, except in exceptional circumstances. The president of the court or the judge presiding over the hearing will have to explain why the circumstances of the case they are dealing with are exceptional. Otherwise, the judge must maintain the minimum sentence provided for by the legislator in the Criminal Code. This seems to us to be an appropriate solution, which offers a perfectly acceptable compromise between the vision of those who wish to maintain the hard line on mandatory minimum sentences and the vision of those who wish to soften them.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.