I believe the bill promotes public safety to a particular extent. There are, I believe, situations where individuals who are not receiving the kinds of support that they need to receive have to be supported within a different facility—understandably, and agreed. I have worked with young people who have faced mental health...and there are no community supports for those young people. They are not only harming themselves; they're also harming individuals within the community. It's not because they are choosing to. It's because of their mental health, and their support to address their mental health isn't being addressed within the community.
If we allow for minimum sentences to be placed on those individuals who may not have the options, I can understand how it promotes safety. But we cannot lose sight of the fact that minimum sentences do not guarantee public safety. The individuals supporting individuals in making the transition from being in the justice system to productive citizens promotes safety in communities. In no way would I ever advocate for those individuals to be just out on the street without any kind of conditions or without any kind of supports. We see what happens when they're not supported. Individuals and families get hurt. Communities become unsafe.
But to leave all of that weight of society on one individual—I think that's not the Canadian way. We know as Canadians that it's a complex web of support or not support. The systems also play a role within the lives of individuals in helping them make or not make decisions. That needs to be taken into account when justices of the peace are administering justice. They should have the opportunity to do so.