Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to the presentation just made by the member opposite. I share some of his concerns with respect to the legislation and the whole problem of how we solve the crime situation in the country. We have heard recently that the crime rate in Canada is now going down. If that is really true then we ought to be truly grateful.
I have concern with respect to the whole idea of probation and the elements of section 745. It seems to me that people who enter the criminal justice system are those who already are demonstrating they are not good in and of themselves or they have failed. Somehow it seems we have to kick in an extra gear of the administration of justice in this case so that they will learn the harder lesson they have failed to learn before.
I would really be interested in a comment from the hon. member. He indicated that he would like to see automatic parole at 15 years instead of merely the eligibility to apply for it despite the crime. It concerns me a great deal that there should automatically be a right to say: "My punishment is over even though I have taken someone's life". That is heinous and serious. We ought to be strengthening it rather than weakening it.
I would like to hear some further justification if he has it.