Justice Committee on Nov. 27th, 2014

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Six minutes...oh.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

If I have six minutes...

I just want to correct the Minister.

I'm not sure and I might be mistaken, but in the brief that we received from the Library it's actually the total amount that we're talking about, because the whole picture was integrated in the tableau. Sorry, I don't know how to say this in English.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Central Nova, NS]

I'm not sure which document you're working from.

[The Chair, Conservative, Mike Wallace]

It's the Library of Parliament's.

They have not seen it.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Central Nova, NS]

I haven't seen your document either, but what I can tell you is that the $108-million figure that you're referring to, that figure, by our documentation, represents the figure pre the addition of the supplementary estimates. The $11.5 million that we're seeking here, plus a territorial transfer, will actually bring that number up. It shows an increase on paper if the supplementary estimates (B) are approved today.

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

It shows an increase from 2014 but it's still under the level of 2006.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Central Nova, NS]

Just to be clear on that point, I don't want to dispute or say I'm correcting you, but the figures have actually been frozen. This was one area of the department's budget that did not go through deficit reduction action. This figure has been consistent since we took office. We have not diminished legal aid funding.

You may retort, “Well, as a per capita”, because in certain provinces we have seen an increase in population—Alberta perhaps is the most obvious example—but the monetary figure has not decreased and the legal aid budget was not subject to reductions that other programs faced.

[The Chair, Conservative, Mike Wallace]

Mr. Toone.

[Philip Toone, NDP, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

Thank you.

I will try to keep it brief.

First, I would like to thank the minister for appointing someone from the Gaspé Peninsula to the Supreme Court. I have a feeling of regional pride since Suzanne Côté comes from Cloridorme, which is a very beautiful village in my riding. I have no doubt that she will be an unparalleled asset for the Supreme Court. So thank you.

I would like to briefly talk about minimum sentencing. I don't have a lot of time to talk about it.

Since the Conservative government came to power, the minimum sentencing provisions in the Criminal Code have multiplied significantly.

There are more and more trials in courts opposing minimum sentences. Has the federal workforce required to defend those provisions under the Criminal Code been increased? Is that planned for in the estimates? In our courts, how much does defending minimum sentencing provisions cost?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Central Nova, NS]

I greatly appreciate your comment on Ms. Côté's roots. I completely agree with the positive reception from all the members of this committee.

In terms of mandatory minimum sentences,

I would say, just for context, there are some 60 inclusions of offences in the Criminal Code now that have a mandatory minimum penalty, so this is not a new concept. It has been around literally since the Criminal Code has existed, that is, offences that were punishable by mandatory minimum penalties.

Last February, as you would know, we brought in the tougher penalties for child predators. This proposes, among other things, to increase mandatory minimum penalties as they pertain to child sex offences and require in some cases that these sentences be served consecutively in some circumstances. Mandatory minimum penalties, I would submit to you and to committee colleagues, are carefully tailored to address the very serious impact of the types of crime and the offences that they seek to deter.

[Philip Toone, NDP, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

I appreciate that, Minister, but we don't have a lot of time. Could you get to the point? Do we have a number, the amount of manpower required, the costs and—

[The Chair, Conservative, Mike Wallace]

You have 10 seconds to answer that question.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Central Nova, NS]

The impact would be very much borne out by those who choose to go to trial, I suppose, rather than seek plea bargains. This is a difficult thing to try to calculate. It would also be borne out in another department, that is Public Safety Canada, in terms of periods of incarceration, so I don't have that information at my fingertips.

[The Chair, Conservative, Mike Wallace]

Okay, thank you very much.

Thank you, Minister, for joining us for this hour. I want to thank committee members for their questions.

We will suspend for a few minutes, because we have a number of guests who are going to join us at the table.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Mike Wallace]

I call this meeting back to order.

This is our second panel and we have a variety of witnesses who are listed on your sheets, so I'm not going to go through the names.

Does the deputy minister have an opening statement, or are you here only to answer questions?

[William F. Pentney, Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General of Canada, Department of Justice]

I'd be happy to turn directly to questions, and some of my colleagues from the portfolio agencies are here. Last time we were here there was some discussion on questions I was not in a position to answer, so I'm hoping all of my good friends here are able to answer all of the questions you have.

[The Chair, Conservative, Mike Wallace]

That's great, thank you very much.

Mr. Pentney, it happens on lots of committees where some people have questions and one person has all the answers, but that's not the case here, so I appreciate everyone coming today.

Mr. Wilks, on our first round the floor is yours.

[David Wilks, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Thank you very much and—

[The Chair, Conservative, Mike Wallace]

We'll be much more strict on time this time, though.

[David Wilks, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Excellent. Thank you very much and thank you to all of the officials for being here today. I'll just throw—

[The Chair, Conservative, Mike Wallace]

Oh, I'm sorry, my apologies. It's not where we're starting—

[David Wilks, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Oh, for God's sake—

[The Chair, Conservative, Mike Wallace]

Madam Boivin asked for time.

I forgot where we were starting—

[David Wilks, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

You have six minutes and 38 seconds.