Mr. Speaker, I can tell the hon. member that in the course of our campaign for office last fall and in statements that I have made since the election we have made it clear that we believe the maximum punishment for the crimes of serious violence should be increased. We have said there is a need for greater sharing of information about those convicted of violent crime who are young offenders where community safety is at stake. We have also made reference to a variety of other changes which will be reflected in the bill we will introduce within the coming weeks in this House.
We have also made it clear that some of the more fundamental questions about the statute will be the subject of study by the Standing Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs. At the same time as we introduce a bill for immediate changes we will ask the committee, for example, to look at broader questions such as the age application of the act. It will come back to us after consulting with knowledgeable people on those issues.
Some of the items the hon. member has mentioned will be covered in the statute that we are going to introduce to change the act in the short term and many other important questions will be addressed by the standing committee in its longer term analysis.