Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, a very detailed consultation was done on this private member's bill before it was introduced. I travelled across the country. I spoke to thousands of parents, stakeholders, law enforcement agencies and boards of education. The bill was developed with everyone's input.
I do not believe there is anything that we can do which will not help our young children, our youth, our future, in order to protect them. Whether that is minimum mandatory sentences, judges do have the discretion to use that for a maximum prison time of up to five years. In terms of youth under the age of 18, I believe it is essential that we have minimum mandatory sentences to hold these criminals accountable for their action. They are destroying our youth and ultimately our future.