Justice committee  As a good crown I'm going to carry into effect whatever law Parliament sends me. Do I agree, on a principle basis, that if an offender repeats criminal conduct and he's convicted, he ought to attract a higher sentence? Absolutely. The critical problem we have, though, is that—and I'll give Ontario as an example—we have a criminal justice infrastructure that can support a trial rate of about 7% or 8%, and that's just a number.

Justice committee  Let me say at the outset that you're probably not going to be satisfied with my answer. The CACC, unlike the CBA, doesn't make comment with respect to good or bad parts of the bill. As a front-line prosecutor myself, obviously, I don't prosecute those types of cases. I'm a provincial prosecutor.

Justice committee  If those resources aren't added, you get some really aberrant results out of the criminal justice system, as crown prosecutors have to exercise their discretion to prioritize cases so that with the limited court space that's available, they are actually heard.

Justice committee  The Canadian Association is comprised of those organizations of crown prosecutors and civil lawyers and notaries employed by the crown in the federal government and each of the provinces across the country. These member organizations represent the front-line prosecutors and civil government lawyers in each province and within the Federal Prosecution Service in the Department of Justice.