Justice committee  As I said, there are many sides to this coin. There are many sides. It's not only one thing. That's how I look at it.

Justice committee  Absolutely. That's one of the main things that I and many others who are in my shoes cannot figure out: why the loss of life by an impaired driver by vehicle is not considered serious. It is not commensurate with other crimes where there is loss of life. It's perceived as an accident and that it won't happen again.

Justice committee  It was a three-year concurrent sentence.

Justice committee  It's a big difference. The maximum is life for impaired driving causing death. I know of only one instance of it, and four or five other instances over many years. I could pass this information out. We're talking about people on their 19th time, and then they finally kill someone.

Justice committee  Yes, to me in this bill it stays exactly the same as legislation from 2008 regarding penalties and fines, except for that increase of $500. If you are double over, a $1,000 to $1,500 fine, to me, in this day and age is a credit card fine. It's what people call a joke. They can borrow that money from their friends to pay that.

Justice committee  I'd like to begin with a video. They always say a picture is worth a thousand words. [Video presentation] I'd like to thank you for inviting me to speak to you on what to me is one of the most important decisions a government can make. I speak to you today not as a legal expert or an organization with vast resources, but as an ordinary citizen, a real victim, and a mother.

Justice committee  Thank you.

Public Safety committee  We're just grieving mums. We're not an organization like MADD. We're just mums.

Public Safety committee  Bradley.

Public Safety committee  I believe there are many sides to this coin. The random breath testing is one side. Stiffer penalties is one side, also more education. I believe we have to change our cultural behaviour regarding drinking and driving.

Public Safety committee  I would like you to attack it from all sides.

Public Safety committee  I'm just wondering if I could say something very briefly on deterrence. Nobody wants these crimes to happen in the first place. That is the truth. General deterrence, to me, helps protect the general population from committing a crime similar to the one.... To me, if the ultimate goal of good sentencing is to reduce crime, then the general deterrence component of sentencing is most effective because it focuses on all of our society.

Public Safety committee  It's loss of life. We're looking at somebody basically using a car as their weapon. It's up to a 5,000-pound weapon. There's some point where punishment and rehabilitation.... Just rehabilitation alone, to me, does not send the strong message out to the public that this is not acceptable.

Public Safety committee  Thank you. I want to thank everybody, and I realize there are time constraints. I hope that everybody was sent the link to a quick five-minute video, because that video was meant to depict truly what every family that has lost someone goes through. It's not meant to be just my own tragedy.