Justice committee  Thank you very much, sir. Members of the committee, the Canadian Council of Criminal Defence Lawyers is very grateful for this invitation. We have been here on many occasions throughout the years, and I wanted to say, on behalf of our organization, that we feel that this commit

Justice committee  Mr. Chair, could I just respond to that very quickly? We would urge you to consult with police forces throughout your consultative hearings, but I would urge you to consult with police who are not just in the city of Toronto, or big cities, but in the Northwest Territories, with

Justice committee  Exactly.

Justice committee  I was struck by looking at the government's backgrounder paper and this bill. From my reading of it, I was shocked the bill was introduced, because it seemed to suggest that the evidence in this country, the evidence and experience in other countries, does not support mandatory m

Justice committee  You may perceive that some of the legislation that's being introduced is directly or indirectly an attack on the principles of sentencing, because the principles of sentencing, as set out in section 718, really talk about using jail as a last resort. The particular section I refe

Justice committee  Perhaps I could speak to that. One of the problems in the entire criminal justice system right now is that in adding this kind of a minimum sentence to certain provisions, it becomes more complex and more serious. And the mega-trials are not a feature that we were used to 15 or

Justice committee  It's very different in Toronto from what it would be in New Brunswick. It's very different in New Brunswick from what it is in Quebec. It's very different in Quebec from what it is in Manitoba. And that's because the system is not funded the same. Legal aid in Toronto, for instan

Justice committee  I was referring to the legislative summary, “Legislative History of Bill C-10”, which is an 18-page document. It was sent to me by the Department of Justice along with Bill C-10.

Justice committee  Let me just speak to my experience. I've been practising for about 35 years now. Formerly I was vice-president of the Criminal Lawyers' Association. I've been chair of the Canadian Council of Criminal Defence Lawyers now for more than ten years--my wife says too long. There were

Justice committee  We believe that some of the legislation we've seen is a direct or indirect attack on the principles of sentence. Our exception provision reflects the spirit of that, because it talks about the particular needs of the community. Just to respond specifically on Nunavut, Sue Cooper

Justice committee  Let me respond on behalf of the CCCDL. The reason we reject the bill outright as our opening premise is that the bill optically seems to be addressing a problem, but in reality it is not. The most troubling part of this bill is this. We have judges in this country who are worki

Justice committee  In response to your first question, Mr. Lee, I can't tell you, but I am so afraid that that's exactly what we will see. We will see aboriginals and we will see judges struggling to try to do something other than what is commanded of them. We will see aboriginals in custody and th

Justice committee  Mr. Lee, can I only say that we had a seven-year minimum sentence for importing a long time ago? We realized it didn't work. In the 1950s there was a minimum sentence for car theft. That was the major charge that was going to upset the socio-economic balance in our country; take

Justice committee  In our exception provision that we suggested to you, we left treason and murder as the only ones. What we did was go out on a limb and say that you don't need minimum sentences. You can have a judge decide in the particular circumstances whether or not the minimum sentence should

Justice committee  No, it's not an opposite point of view. If you feel that the sentence for careless storage, the ceiling for careless storage—and careless storage—