Mr. Speaker, indeed, the parole board must have that discretion.
If a person commits a crime and is sentenced, being eligible for parole after serving only one-sixth of their sentence is, in my view, far too little. That contributes to the lack of confidence that our police forces have in the ability of the justice system to support them.
I am not saying that we should toss people in jail and throw away the key. As I mentioned in my speech there are two groups, violent and non-violent. Perhaps I should say violent, career criminals and non-violent, non-career criminals. I think they should be treated very differently.
What I am saying is that a sentence should be reduced on the basis of a person's ability to meet requirements such as the treatment of drug addiction, obtaining psychiatric help or demonstrating appropriate behaviour within the context of the institution in which they are incarcerated. If they fulfill those requirements, then the parole board would be able to exercise its good judgment in determining whether that person should or should not be released.