Mr. Speaker, in the Criminal Code, section 718.2(e) says that the judges must take into account whether the convict is an aboriginal or not.
On January 20 Deana Emard of Vancouver argued that she should not go to jail for killing her husband, in part because of her aboriginal background. She was subsequently sentenced to community service.
The families of the victims in both of these cases, who are aboriginal, are asking why they are being discriminated against. Why such pathetic sentences for these horrendous crimes?
Could the minister explain to the families of these victims why they are treated differently under Canadian law—