Justice Minister David Lametti on Wednesday pushed for Parliament’s second reading of a bill that would remove mandatory minimum penalties for all drugs and several gun-related crimes. In February, the Liberal government introduced Bill C-22, which seeks to amend the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) to repeal mandatory minimum penalties (MMPs) for all drug offences and several gun-related crimes. Under the Canadian Criminal Code, when an offence is punishable by the mandatory minimum penalty (MMP), a judge is required to give a sentence that is equal to or greater than the minimum term for that offence. If passed into law, Bill C-22 would give judges discretion in sentencing. For offences such as possession of illegal drugs, judges would be required to consider measures other than imprisonment, such as addiction treatment programs. On Wednesday, Lametti told the House of Commons that by eliminating these MMPs, Bill …