Yes, Mr. Chair.
As members know, clause 53 is a rather large clause with all of those significant amendments to the Security of Information Act. I recognize that the sentencing is pretty strict in a lot of these, and I absolutely understand that for the crimes being committed, we do need to have those strict sentences, but I'm making some changes to make sure that instead of having the words “shall be served consecutively”, it will be “may be served consecutively”.
There's still an option for a judge, based on the circumstances of the case, to impose consecutive sentences, but there's also an option to give a little more leeway, because, again, the circumstances of each case can vary considerably.
That's what my amendment attempts to do throughout clause 53.