I'm going to stop you right there, because I have limited time. I thank you for that.
Do you share this belief?
I've talked with many judges—provincial court judges—and I've talked to many justices of the peace. We all acknowledge that the vast majority of JPs, for short, in Canada do not have a legal background. There's no requirement for them to have a legal background. However, both those JPs and judges feel that Bill C-75 really shackled their discretion. Bill C-75, in addition to the two Supreme Court of Canada decisions in Zora and Antic, has really forced them to consider release, regardless of the circumstances of the predicate offence, regardless of the criminal background and regardless of the number of “failed to attends” and the number of breaches. Default is the overriding principle.
Is that an issue for the department?