Madam Speaker, I thank my colleagues for their contributions today. There have been a number of important suggestions and recommendations.
Everyone heard the Minister of Justice say today that he would listen very carefully and in fact welcome the ideas of people.
I have heard a number of points. I want to make a very brief comment. There is a tendency and a real need to ensure the victims of crime have many more supports than they now have. The Minister of Justice indicated that he agreed and wanted to do something about it.
There is also a feeling that for certain crimes there ought to be much tougher sentences. I applaud that and I believe it is true, but we have to be very careful, as one colleague in the Reform Party indicated, not to let that pendulum swing too far. Otherwise we distort the system in another fashion which is perhaps just as bad.
How important is it to attack the causes of crime embedded in poverty and unemployment in order to reduce crime? I would just like to get my colleague's opinion on that.