Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, there are cases that are very serious, and it is not up to us to judge their seriousness. There is a judicial system, there are judges, and it is up to them to impose the appropriate sentence in such cases.
But I feel it is dangerous to generalize about such situations. I believe there are very few extreme cases. I am happy because, according to recent statistics, the crime rate has gone down in Canada during the last few years, fortunately.
I believe that this is very positive and that the people should know about it. I also believe that in such situations, reporters have a big responsibility. When they write about horrible stories, I think they are doing society a disservice. At times, they are not cautious enough, do not show enough moderation.
I would like to point out to my colleagues of the Reform Party some extraordinary cases of rehabilitation that occurred at the Maison de transition de Saint-Laurent in my riding of Bourassa.
I met the offenders. I do not know their criminal record, but they seemed to be willing to change, to rehabilitate themselves, to be full of energy in order to start a new life. That encouraged me to pursue my efforts and to continue to help these people, the prisoners at the Maison de transition Saint-Laurent, in Montréal-Nord.