Mr. Speaker, first I would like to draw the House's attention to the next question my colleague asked.
If we are going to use statistics to determine whether a law should be changed, we must go back more than two or three years. If we consider how the situation has evolved from one generation to the next, we see that, according to Statistics Canada, from 1970 to 2004, a period of 34 years, the overall crime rate has risen by 57%. The number of violent crimes has climbed by 100%. The number of homicides has dropped by 10%. The number of robberies has risen by 60%. The number of sexual assaults has jumped by 45%. The number of non-sexual assaults has grown by 112%.
These statistics cover all 10 provinces and the three territories. Clearly there is some urgency here. When we have people who should be incarcerated but who are sitting at home with their feet up waiting for their sentence, our system is not working. It cannot work because it undermines justice. If we want to regain the people's faith in the justice system, Bill C-9 must apply when serious crimes are committed so that delinquents will be kept in, not let go.