Mr. Speaker, I would like my colleague to comment on the following situation.
At present, the courts have the power to give sentences of up to 14 years, yet no court has ever sentenced anybody to more than 10 years for such an offence. Therefore, they still have 4 years to play with. Since the Criminal Code was amended to increase to 14 years the maximum sentence for this type of offence, no judge has ever found the offence serious enough to impose the full 14 year sentence.
Will the mere fact of telling judges they can give a life sentence change anything? Up to now, they could impose sentences of up to 14 years, but they never did. What will Canadians think if we tell them that judges have the power to hand out life sentences but never use it? They will say there is even less justice than there was before, because the full life sentence is never imposed.
Will the bill not make our legal system even less credible?