Justice committee  Definitely, yes.

Justice committee  I'll answer in English, if you don't mind?

Justice committee  I think the important point about the idea that this solves anything--that is, sending people to jail--is that it is manifestly not so. It does not work; that's true. But I think Mr. Bagnell's question about the problem and how we solve the problem.... What do we do to solve the

Justice committee  Yes. I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. Rathgeber. In that context, I didn't refer to the robotic exercise of mandatory minimum sentencing. I talked about 1987 and the potential for the robotic exercise of the sentencing function of a judge under a complete mandatory guideline system.

Justice committee  I didn't say it did. I was talking about mandatory sentencing guidelines when I talked about robots. All right?

Justice committee  Oh, you're speaking of guidelines?

Justice committee  I see. Yes, that's true.

Justice committee  I will add to something Mr. Tousaw said. I want to make it clear that Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, an American organization that was founded by five police officers who spent their lives and careers involved in enforcement of drug laws there, an organization to which I

Justice committee  Exactly.

Justice committee  Mr. Ménard, if you don't mind, I'll keep answering in English. I have lived 45 years in Vancouver, and I am afraid I'd waste time trying to find the right words in French.

Justice committee  Thank you. I made the point that courts will be more clogged. We're not dealing with the occasional gun crimes--really, they are occasional, believe it or not--or crimes associated with the use of firearms. Even impaired driving cases have gone down quite steadily in the last 10

Justice committee  Well, I first have to say that the drug treatment court is what you're referring to, as opposed to a drug court, which we had—a separate court dealing with drug issues in Vancouver. That was put in place in 2001. I retired part-time, if I can put it that way, in 2001, and I retir

Justice committee  Yes, with its own problems, and not really effectively dealing with the problems that got the people before the court in the first place. That's my view.

Justice committee  Mr. Chair, members of the committee, thank you. It gets to the point where everything that needs to be said has been said. I come here as a retired provincial court judge from British Columbia. I was appointed in 1975 and I retired in 2003, and over those 28 years I heard ove