Mr. Speaker, as a follow-up to the last question, is the parliamentary secretary really serious when he says that the government is targeting only serious crimes?
I agree with him that there is some concern in this country over the use of conditional sentences when it comes to violent crimes. There have been several--although not many--notorious cases that have hit the front pages of our papers, but as I look at the list prepared by the Department of Justice, I see that there are close to 20 charges that have nothing to do with violence and have a maximum penalty of 10 years. Therefore, conditional sentences will no longer be necessary. Some are: fraud over $5,000, the filing of a false prospectus, wilful mischief over $5,000, wilful mischief of other property, theft from the mail, false pretense, and obtaining credit by false pretense. All of these crimes will no longer be available for those sentences.
I am asking the parliamentary secretary if he does not think that in fact this legislation has overreached its boundaries. Perhaps the government should be considering eliminating a number of those less serious offences from the consequences of the bill.