Senator Boisvenu: I would remind you that if consecutive sentencing had been in place in 2015, when Bill C-452 passed third reading in Parliament, it would have prevented court cases like this one. The Liberal government deliberately refused to bring this legislation into force because it considered consecutive sentencing to be “cruel and unusual.”

However, what is truly disproportionate, cruel and unusual: the hell that these pimps put their victims through or the requirement to impose consecutive sentences on these criminals?

Senator Gold: Thank you for your question. I don’t want to minimize the harm done to victims. The stark contrast of those two choices is not necessarily the only answer to your important question. The issue of proportionality, constitutionality even, of consecutive sentences is an important issue in our society, but also in our legal system.

The government believes it is important for all sentences to be proportional and constitutional when judges hand them down. The government will keep working to make sure our justice system is fair and upholds the Constitution.

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