The Canadian Bar Association, as far as I'm aware, does not collect statistics. We have in our submission made reference to statistics from Statistics Canada, which are accessible online. We included those specifically to provide some clarity regarding whether or not there has been an increase in crime and, if so, in what kinds of crime and what the reasons might be.
I can't speak specifically.... I'm not a criminologist. I'm not a statistician either. I am simply a criminal defence lawyer and someone who participates quite actively in issues on law reform and advocacy.
However, we would suggest that if there are going to be changes to the bill regime, we do not react. Again, I would echo the words of my colleague, Mr. Arnet, that we do not react based on emotion and that we do not react instinctively to very tragic and emotional events, but that we look at the literature. For example, I felt that the brief submitted by Dr. Nicole Myers earlier on in these committee meetings was very helpful. I felt that might be a very good source as a starting point.