Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the fruitful question raised by the hon. member. I would have thought the bill as presented by the minister responded to the specific cases he raised. These 16 and 17 year olds are to be dealt with in adult court under the bill. The maximum sentence is 10 years for first degree murder.
We are getting into this issue of marginal variation and where do we draw the line? Would we extend it from 16 years down to 15, or why not then 14? A life sentence and even death sentences were routinely applied in earlier periods of criminology to young children. We have obviously gone beyond that.
We have tried to establish a new line which reflects present societal expectations and present societal realities. It is always possible to amend this, but I would have thought that there is a significant change now made in applying this 10-year minimum sentence for first degree murder. On that particular score I think that the bill represents an advance. However, if on experience it is found that changes are needed, it can be amended again.