Mr. Speaker, during the break week I had the privilege of going through my community which has been identified by the United Way as having among the poorest postal codes in the country. Many people in one or two places in my riding do not have incomes because of many factors, one primarily being immigration, but other factors as well. There is a direct correlation between poverty and crime. People can buy a $2 million house in my riding and be living literally cheque to cheque.
The member is right. There has been an escalation of fear while the facts have gone the other way. As we go door to door there is a concern but at the same time we have excellent policing and very active judges in Toronto. We have a factual, statistical, provable reality that shows crime is declining. Frankly, this bill and the one to follow it will do absolutely nothing on the issue of recidivism. It will do nothing for the fear that Canadians have, rightly or wrongly. It will not contribute in any way to the actual lessening of crime in our community.