Justice committee  That's right. It was two-pronged. One was directed to the federal government Department of Justice. In particular, it referenced some of the cases I talked about earlier and asked the federal government to consider changes to section 515, which I spoke about earlier, tightening up some of the rules in respect to sureties and also giving greater consideration to the third ground.

Justice committee  Yes. I've talked to Chief Davis about that. I didn't want to give the impression that I'm not concerned about violent crime. I am, and I certainly support the position that Chief Davis advanced before the committee and the concerns he has. As for those who talk about the reverse onus for those kinds of crimes, I would support that.

Justice committee  As I said previously, I'm here to speak to the concerns that my community has and to a subject I don't think the committee has heard much about. That is non-violent crime and what's happening with respect to non-violent crime. Lots of witnesses have talked about violent crime and gun-related crime.

Justice committee  I'm talking about a subset of that. My concern, as a lawyer, is people losing confidence in the administration of justice. Part of this is through the headlines they read in terms of violent crime—

Justice committee  If it's successful and it is having an impact on reducing violent crime, obviously you would hope it would be used across the country. You can't argue with success.

Justice committee  In 10 seconds, in terms of violent offenders, I believe Chief Montour and Chief Davis have both spoken extensively about that. They're better qualified than I am, and they're more experienced than I am to comment on that. I talk about the interaction I have with residents on a weekly basis about what's happening in their lives—most of them—and what it is they're experiencing.

Justice committee  Our community is very concerned about it. You heard previously from Chief Rob Davis and Chief Darren Montour from Six Nations. They're both very concerned about it in terms of public safety, and I think their concern is justified. Has the system drawn a proper balance between protecting the public and protecting the rights of individuals who have not yet been convicted?

Justice committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I thank you for inviting me to this committee hearing. I am the mayor of the city of Brantford. I was elected in October 2018, after having practised law for 38 years. I was a civil litigator. I did not practice criminal law, so I'm not coming to you as an expert in criminal law.