The proposed safety valve is a policy proposal of the government, not a proposal of the Department of Justice. In explaining how it operates, the idea is to, as I discussed last week, reinforce and reanimate MMPs that have been found unconstitutional by different levels of the court in Canada. It provides an ability to depart from the imposition of the MMP in a specific case where that MMP, in relation to the specific offender, would amount to cruel and unusual punishment.
