I accept that there have been far too many tragedies in our communities. One of the most difficult aspects of the job I do as Minister of Public Safety is to grieve with families who have lost loved ones to gun violence and other violent crime. It is because of those tragedies that we must continue to find ways to work together to improve and strengthen our system. This is why Minister Lametti and I recently chaired and facilitated a conversation on the heels of the letter that you mentioned from the premiers of all 13 jurisdictions in Canada, so that we could have a candid discussion on how we might amend the Criminal Code to address the specific issue of repeat violent offenders who have used either guns or other weapons to visit upon communities and individuals violence and harm, which then leads to grief.
As you heard me say in my introductory remarks, that was a very productive and constructive meeting. At the conclusion of it, we were able to issue a joint press statement in which the federal government agreed to look at the Criminal Code to make certain amendments to the bail system so that we could be sure that we would both, one, protect communities from future harm by offenders or those charged with serious violent offences and, two, promote the successful reintegration of those individuals safely back into our communities.