moved that Bill C-316, an act to amend the Immigration Act and the Transfer of Offenders Act, be read the second time and referred to a committee.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to debate Bill C-316, an act to amend the Immigration Act and the Transfer of Offenders Act.
I would like to start by thanking the members of the Private Members' Business subcommittee for realizing the importance of this legislation to the social fabric of our nation. Moreover by making this private member's bill votable, subcommittee members have acted upon a key principle which has been advocated by our minister of immigration in many forums.
The minister and I on numerous occasions have said that Canada has a proud tradition of welcoming immigrants. Members know that both of us have personally benefited from that tradition.
When I came to Canada from Croatia in 1968, I agreed to obey the laws of this nation. At that time I did not have the same rights as those who were already citizens. I could not vote. I could not have been a member of Parliament nor work for the federal government. I obeyed the law and was particularly careful to be on my best behaviour.
The day that I finally did become a citizen was one of the happiest days of my life. To this day I have continued to uphold the laws and virtues of this country and I will continue to do so.
The majority of our immigrants are model citizens. They work very hard to succeed in this country and they do so in a law-abiding manner.
However, a very small group of immigrants, and for that matter visitors, do not play by the rules. Some in this very small group have come to this great country, taken advantage of its generosity and disobeyed its laws. I would like those individuals to know that law-abiding immigrants and for that matter all Canadians, firmly believe that those individuals who are not citizens and who repeatedly show disrespect for the laws and people of Canada do not deserve to be here.
Our laws have always recognized that serious criminality should have the consequence of removal from Canada. The current Immigration Act explicitly states as much and my bill reinforces that principle.
The immigration enforcement improvement act simply aims to improve the way in which removal of violent offenders is executed. It streamlines a deportation procedure which has failed in the past, a procedure which has led to several inexcusable tragedies. Members may recall two of these inexcusable tragedies which occurred last spring.
In April of last year, a 23-year old young woman by the name of Georgina Leimonis was murdered in the trendy Toronto restaurant, Just Desserts. She had been having coffee with her boyfriend. One of her killers, O'Neil Grant, was a non-citizen with a lengthy criminal record. Prior to the murder, he had been granted a five year stay of his deportation. Lawrence Augustus Brown, the shooter, had immigrated to Canada 10 years earlier and also had an extensive criminal record.
The murder of Georgina Leimonis sent shock waves through Toronto and the entire country. In my riding of Cambridge, 20 grade 10 students from Galt Collegiate took the time to express their shock and anger over the murder of this young, vibrant woman. Their letters moved me to a point where I knew something had to be done. I would like to share some of their comments with members here today. Amy Gibson wrote:
We like to think of Canada as the best country in the world and I agree most of the time. We have a lot of freedom here-but what happens when we have so much freedom that we lose security? The murder of Georgina Leimonis is a good example. She didn't do anything wrong, she was innocently sitting in a cafe when she was shot. Soon we will be afraid to leave our houses.
Katharina Daldrup wrote:
I just immigrated to Canada 23 months ago and had found it to be a non-violent country. I was shocked by this incident and strongly feel that everything possible must be done to prevent incidents like this one.
Devon Edwards echoed the comments of the majority of his classmates when he expressed how deeply saddened he was to read of the murder of Georgina Leimonis.
The death of Georgina Leimonis was tragic but it was not an isolated incident. Less than two months after her murder, a 25-year old metropolitan Toronto police officer, Constable Todd Baylis, was killed while on duty.
Constable Todd Baylis and his partner had been out on a routine foot patrol when they spotted a suspect who was a known drug trafficker. As they began to pursue the suspect, a gun fight broke out and Constable Baylis was shot in the head before he could even draw his weapon.
Constable Baylis' killer, Clinton Gayle, was very well known to police and immigration authorities. He had a lengthy criminal record which included several convictions for trafficking in narcotics, possession of unregistered and restricted weapons, assault, attempted theft and escape from custody. It was because of his criminality that Clinton Gayle had been ordered deported in 1991. At the time of Constable Baylis' murder, Gayle was out on $2,000 bond and had been awaiting deportation for a two year period.
I truly believe that Clinton Gayle would have been deported prior to the murder of Constable Todd Baylis had the measures contained in Bill C-316 been in place.
Before I go any further, I would like members to know that the two cases I have just outlined are not isolated incidents. This is not just a Toronto problem. Tragedies such as these could have occurred and have occurred in Montreal, Vancouver and other parts of the country.
The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has made great strides to limit access by serious criminals to immigration procedures that delay their removal from Canada. As a result of measures contained in Bill C-44, the rights of serious criminals to appeals under the immigration system have been limited. These same individuals will no longer be eligible for any form of early release or parole if they are serving a sentence for a criminal offence.
I applaud the minister for his swift action on these two elements and for his efforts to improve enforcement of deportation orders. However, I remain concerned that there is still room for serious offenders to fall through the cracks from the time they are sentenced to the time they are deported. My bill aims to fill those cracks.
Bill C-316 would permit a court, in addition to any other sentence, to order the removal of a non-citizen convicted of an offence punishable by 10 years or more. These serious criminals would have access to appeals within the criminal process but not to appeals currently available under the Immigration Act.
I understand there is some concern that the measures contained in this bill could be interpreted as a double punishment against non-citizens, a harsher sentence than a Canadian citizen committing the same crime would receive. The reality is that distinction currently exists. Non-citizens do not have all the rights of citizenship and non-citizens who commit crimes are currently subject to a criminal sentence and deportation. The only difference is that with Bill C-316, sole responsibility for both matters would lie with the courts rather than with the immigration department.
The measures being proposed would not only accelerate the deportation process of violent offenders but would also save the Canadian taxpayers money. The savings would primarily come from not having to duplicate the court hearing process. An offender's immigration status would be determined by the sentencing judge after an individual has been convicted of an offence punishable by 10 years or more as opposed to having one court determine criminality and the other immigration status.
Although it may take judges some time to get their heads around this legislation, if we have the courtroom, the lawyers and a judge familiar with an individual's past and present record, does it not make sense to deal with both issues at once? I submit to you that it does and that the Canadian taxpayers would prefer to see it done this way. I also know that there are judges and crown prosecutors who would prefer to have it done this way.
There are two additional measures of significance in this bill of which members should be aware. The first relates to how we treat offenders who came to Canada at an early age. Immigration advocates have argued that deporting someone who came to Canada as a child is unjust.
Some have even said our society should accept some responsibility for the way Clinton Gayle acted because he came to Canada in his early teens and was essentially a product of our environment. I agree with that argument to a certain degree. There has to come a point when we as Canadians say enough is enough.
My bill proposes anyone who came to Canada prior to the age of 16 and has remained free of criminal conviction for a period of at least five years should be exempt from deportation.
The second measure provides for the removal by court order of foreign offenders to their country of origin if reciprocal conditional release provisions exist in that country. The Transfer of Offenders Act currently makes provisions to transfer an offender to his or her country of origin if the offender chooses to be transferred and if a bilateral agreement exists.
Bill C-316 will remove that decision from the offender and will transfer it to courts thereby allowing a judge to order that an offender will serve the remainder of his or her sentence in their country of origin. I acknowledge my proposal may require certain bilateral agreements to be amended but I am confident that can be done with relative ease.
Concerns have been raised in reference to the possible deportation of family members with the offender. I advise the House these measures are currently contained in the Immigration Act. The reason for this is if the family members are financially dependent on the offender or if the offender was their sponsor, once the offender was transferred to his or her country of origin there would be an absence of financial support for the offender's family. This is currently done at the discretion of an immigration officer and under my bill it would be left to the discretion of the courts.
The two key elements of the bill, namely that sentencing courts be allowed to order the deportation of a person convicted of an indictable offence carrying a penalty of 10 years or more, and that the crown be permitted to initiate the transfer of foreign nationals to their country of origin, were contained in the final report of the safety net conference held in Hamilton last fall.
At this conference parliamentarians of different political stripes, immigration officials, immigration lawyers, enforcement authorities and victims groups specifically recommended the changes today being proposed in Bill C-316.
The bill has received the endorsement of the Canadian Police Association, the Metro Toronto Police Association, Victims of Violence and CAVEAT. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has on several occasions stated consideration should be given authorizing judges to issue deportation orders at the time of sentencing rather than requiring a separate step. He included this suggestion in his strategy for immigration and citizenship entitled "Into the 21st Century". He mentioned it during his speech on Bill C-44. I know he has been giving Bill C-316 the utmost consideration because we have discussed it on numerous occasions.
I have received a great deal of co-operation from the minister's office in preparing for today's occasion. However, I am aware the minister has some technical concerns with the bill and I have advised him I am prepared, willing and able to accept any amendments required to address the technical and drafting elements of the bill he is concerned with.
In conclusion, I leave members with the following to ponder. On April 2, I attended a memorial service for Georgina Leimonis in Toronto. Although the Leimonis family is still grieving the loss of Georgina, it does not want such a tragedy to be repeated. Members of the family have asked me to do everything in my power to see these amendments are enacted, and I am asking members for their support.
I would also like members to remember these often repeated words which Miss Kristina Kolesnyk of Galt Collegiate shared with me in her letter following the death of Georgina Leimonis: those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Please support Bill C-316 so Canadians can feel more secure in their homes, neighbourhoods and on their streets.
