Madam Speaker, the problem I have with mandatory minimums is that they tend to be one-size-fits-all, no matter the circumstances or the information on each case, and I am worried about them taking away from judicial discretion. I was wondering about his thoughts on the sentencing principles that already exist in the Criminal Code under section 718.2, which do require a judge to take into account whether there was a position of authority or trust and whether a person was under the age of 18 years. These allow judges to significantly increase penalties based on the circumstances of the case.
I believe what he is trying to tackle in this bill is already allowed for in the Criminal Code, and I am wondering why he does not agree with that.