Madam Speaker, my question was prompted by the fact that all of the available evidence, including that from the Department of Justice itself, shows that mandatory minimums are excessive, disproportionate, ineffective, costly and do nothing but increase prison populations. The question still stands. This week an Ontario Superior Court judge confirmed that mandatory minimums are a failed policy. Indeed the judge said in this case that they would be “fundamentally unfair, outrageous, abhorrent and intolerable”.
Moreover, the Minister of Justice has an obligation under the Department of Justice Act to ensure that legislation comports with the charter. I have heard nothing from the parliamentary secretary this evening that rebuts any of the preponderance of evidence, that says anything about the unconstitutionality of the legislation, or that addresses the question of costs, in that mandatory minimums will exceed the costs.
At the end of the day the question remains unanswered, and I can understand why. The preponderance of evidence is simply against the position of the government.