Mr. Speaker, at the outset, I would like to say that I agree with the hon. member for Joliette.
As a legal aid lawyer having always argued for the defence, thereby coming into closer contact with citizens experiencing difficulties—the underprivileged—I have always sought, and I shall always seek individualization in sentencing. This seems to me to be essential. But that is not what this bill seeks to achieve. I think it focuses on the wrong message, and that it sends a very unclear message.
The legal community is deeply concerned about this. I attended the Conference of the Quebec Bar just two weeks ago.
I think that judges are doing exceptional work. Their job is to sentence individuals. They do not want to punch 742.1 into a computer that will spit out an eight-year prison sentence for the accused.
We must preserve the principle of individualization, but we must above all respect the goal to rehabilitate the individual, who will one day go back into society. Excuse me, Your Honour, but as I said to the judge, when my client re-enters society, will he be ready for it? If he is locked up for 10 years, he will not be.
My apologies for having given you a raise, Mr. Speaker. However, I must tell you that we must not do this. What we should do is provide the courts with guidelines acknowledging that sentences may not be severe enough, but that appeal courts exist to rectify them. Our job is to work on rehabilitation and to fight poverty, for what is crime? People commit crimes when they have a problem; our society is not full of psychopaths.