Thank you, Madam Chair.
Let me first say that it's been interesting as I dove into some details about this, in the context of the larger conversation about the justice system in Canada. I have concerns, as do many members around this table, and I would think all parties as well, about the erosion of trust that has taken place within our justice system.
Certainly, one of the contributing factors in this is when a miscarriage of justice takes place. This bill is referred to as “David and Joyce Milgaard's Law”. From some of the research I've done, according to that and from a host of additional examples, there have in fact been miscarriages of justice. That is a contributing factor.
We see violent crime rates increasing in this country and a host of concerns related to the proliferation of violence, and the justice system seems to be unable to.... Certainly, from the perspective of the last eight years, there are contributions to that from the actions of now three successive Parliaments, where the Liberals passed bills that have contributed to it. That has added to the erosion of trust.
This is the other side of that same coin. Canadians have to, first, trust that the justice system does, in fact, ensure that people end up behind bars when they've committed crimes, to ensure that there is a full understanding of the consequences when someone does not uphold their obligations under the law.
The other side of that is what we're talking about here. It is that Canadians also have to trust the justice system and the idea of a unique and pivotal factor in the development of our modern society, which is the presumption of innocence and the ability for somebody to have a just and due process that lends towards allowing people to err, at least as little as is humanly possible.
I wish we could look back in our history at a record of perfection, but we know, as evidenced by Bill C-40 before us—