However, I detect here a bit of hypocrisy. If you mean to tell criminals that there is no hope, that there will be no hope, and never will be any, go ahead and say it and simply strike down section 745. If what you want to do is say there is hope, it is that you want to flirt a little with Quebecers, but you are setting such conditions that nobody will meet them.
One has to present a written application to convince a judge. Oral or verbal presentations are not allowed and one cannot appear before a judge. A written application is needed to ask a judge to convene a jury. The judge can deny the request, it is his right. If he agrees to it and convenes a jury, the jury has to be convinced that you are right and that requires unanimity.
If you manage to succeed, the jury allows you to go before the Parole Board, step number three. And then you have to convince these people too.
If we start the process after 15 years as it is stated in section 745, with the speed of the whole process, I fear the 25 years of the sentence will be over before the guy is even heard by the Parole Board.
We did a good job. The Quebec government cannot be accused of a lack of compassion for people in a bind or for those who made a mistake. There will be no grounds for accusing the government of facilitating the release of criminals, dangerous persons, monsters or whatever else they many be called, because this is how they describe them in the West. We are talking about the same people, but we simply do not identify them or define them the same way in eastern Canada and western Canada. This is one criticism I have of the government.
There is another point I must mention and that is the ineligibility of anyone guilty of multiple crimes, that is two or more, would not be covered by the new provision of this section, which I find unacceptable. Let us take the case raised by my friend the member for Mégantic-Compton-Stanstead, who spoke about Isabelle Bolduc but refused to explain in details what really happened, and I will follow his example, because it was simply horrible. According to this new provision, the criminal involved would be eligible for
the process and might even be released a few months or a few years earlier than the initial sentence provided.
On the other hand, some others commit multiple crimes accidentally as we saw in the case of Florent Cantin, who started a fire in a bar during the Christmas period. It was a bad joke that went wrong and killed 37 people. This young man was not a criminal. He wanted to play an innocent joke as many do without consequence. This one had tragic consequences, as it killed 37 or 38 people. If you are not too busy, Mr. Speaker, you can tell the hon. member about actus reus and mens rea. The hon. member for Vancouver Quadra knows what I am talking about. Both are required for a crime to be committed. In Florent Cantin's case, I am not sure if mens rea was present, if there was criminal intent. The act was certainly there. These are elements that must be considered in this bill, but the criminal aspect has been swept under the carpet.
I therefore ask the government and my colleague from Vancouver Quadra to exert some influence on the Minister of Justice-who is an authority on legal matters-to get him to be a little more flexible, to admit that making it tougher for inmates may lead to more intolerance and crime in Canadian prisons, and I am not sure we will win.
I think the Reform Party is on the wrong track as it starts playing with life and death issues. Grandstanding is all very well; it is terrible indeed to lose a loved one to a violent or heinous crime, but basically, if life has a price-