Mr. Speaker, that is my understanding at this point in time unless somebody wants to correct me.
My understanding of the bill is that a surcharge will be imposed, no matter what the punishment, for every count to which someone pleads guilty. It is important to understand this. That is what needs to be clear in people's minds: the surcharge is not the punishment as such. The bill says what it says, which is that it is a surcharge added to the punishment handed down by the judge. It means that if someone pleads guilty on six counts, there will be six surcharges. I have no problem with that. Allow me to repeat: the question has nothing to do with the concept of the surcharge.
Everyone is aware of the fact that the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime has said that victims need to see this fund. One might well ask whether this is the right way to help victims or whether there ought perhaps to be other dedicated funds. Few people here would be against having offenders contribute to compensation for their victims. In any event, that is what I think.
That being said, in attempting to solve one problem, we should not create a new one.