Justice  Mr. Speaker, just to be clear, the bill that the Bloc Québécois tabled today proposes using the notwithstanding clause under section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The opposition leader opened the floodgates last month when he stated that he would use the notwithstanding clause to trample on the rights and freedoms guaranteed under the charter.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, I do not accept the Bloc Québécois member's question. I have appointed judges to the bench at the fastest rate in Canadian history. Some 113 judges were appointed in my first 10 months. However, there is always more to do. We are in the process of getting it done.

Women and Gender Equality  Mr. Speaker, on this day in 1990, members of Parliament passed a Conservative bill that would sentence doctors to jail for providing abortions. Thankfully, that bill died in the Senate. Abortion is health care. Canadian women should always have access to abortion. Recognizing this constitutional right to abortion, Liberal Bill C-75 removed abortion from our Criminal Code entirely in 2019.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, we are listening constantly to communities that are being affected by extortion, particularly South Asians in the B.C. region and in the GTA. What we hear from them is that they need supports. We are providing those supports through aggressive responses under the Criminal Code.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, I will start by saluting the impressive work of the Peel police force for cracking an organized criminal ring that is taking people's cars. The second thing I want to underscore for the member and her entire caucus is that they cannot selectively listen to law enforcement.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, in the last three months, we have held an auto theft summit. We have invested $170 million in addressing this issue through investments in law enforcement, through investments in CBSA scanners, through investing in information sharing through Interpol. We are working diligently to break up criminal networks.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we are listening to people who are affected by extortion. We know that this is a pressing problem in parts of B.C. and in parts of my region in Ontario. What we are underscoring is that extortion is against the law. Extortion with—

Official Languages  Mr. Speaker, the court challenges program was created by the Liberal Party of Canada. It was eliminated by the Conservative government and later reinstated by the Liberal Party during the current mandate. As for protecting the French language and official bilingualism across Canada, we are there for official language minority communities, just as we are there to protect both official languages, which are enshrined in the Constitution.

Official Languages  Mr. Speaker, I would just like to point out that the court challenges program has been there from the beginning to protect official language minority communities. This program is designed to protect French outside Quebec and protect English in Quebec, for example. We are proud of our dedication to protecting both official languages.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, the rise in auto theft in our country is not caused by one-off incidents of teenagers taking a joyride; it is perpetrated by networks of organized criminals. That is why we are cracking down on organized crime. These crime rings prey on teenagers to do their dirty work, so we are adding an amendment to the Criminal Code to add a new aggravating factor to make tougher sentences for those who use young persons in the commission of an offence.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would say a number of things. In terms of the tragic death of that woman, that is an absolute tragedy that I feel extreme sympathy for. My heart goes out to her family. In terms of a response, we are working on a number of fronts. We are working on reimagining how we do policing and what policing is as an essential service.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would reiterate that I share the hon. member's concerns about addressing the opioid crisis. That is why we have adopted a harm reduction approach. We do not believe in criminalizing health-related behaviour. That being said, I do not control whether the Government of Saskatchewan or the Government of Alberta applies to Health Canada to seek an exemption under the Narcotics Control Act so they can operate a safe consumption site.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would reiterate, for the edification of the member, that, through Bill C-5, we adopted many aspects of the original private member's bill that was suggested by the member for Beaches—East York, such as aspects and approaches toward the issue of simple possession. That included diversion and alternative measures.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the passage of the UNDRIP through Parliament was historic. It created an annual reporting requirement and changed fundamentally the way we do business as a government. The important involvement of indigenous people at the development stages, including through co-development, of legislation that has an impact or has a potential to impact on their rights is significant, and I have seen that in the work I am doing.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, there are aspects that touch upon gaming in the UN declaration act action plan, and we stand by that action plan, which was co-developed with many different indigenous rights holders around the country. At FPT meetings, we have discussed issues that relate to gaming and the fact that we need federal-provincial-territorial co-operation to address this pressing issue.