Roxanne James

[Public Safety, March 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if the member opposite missed what I said in my first remarks, but recidivism is down and the crime rate is down. Apparently something is working.

Again, I can go on and talk about all of the common sense measures to tackle crime that the NDP has voted against. New Democrats voted against repealing the so-called faint hope clause, which gave early parole to convicted killers. They voted against ending house arrest for serious and violent crimes. They even voted against cracking down on drug dealers who target our children. Time after time when they have had the opportunity to choose between the rights of victims and the rights of criminals, sadly, they have chosen the latter.

Despite the objections from the New Democrats, Canadians know and can trust that our Conservative government will continue to work to combat crime and continue to support the victims of crime in order to keep our streets and communities safe.

[Public Safety, March 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the New Democrats, who time after time raise the issue of increasing rights for prisoners, our Conservative government is primarily concerned with the rights of victims. The NDP has in fact voted against giving victims more information about criminals convicted of victimizing them and ending early parole for white-collar fraudsters such as Earl Jones. The New Democrats even opposed and voted against my own private member's bill that stopped prisoners from making frivolous complaints. I would add, despite the objections and the adamant opposition of the NDP, that I am proud to say that my bill received royal assent in 2013.

Since the member for Alfred-Pellan has asked what our government does to ensure the correctional system actually corrects criminal behaviour, I am more than happy to tell her.

The Correctional Service of Canada offers a wide range of interventions to convicted criminals sentenced to federal time and has long been recognized as an international leader in the development and delivery of correctional programs. Indeed, evidence consistently demonstrates that our programs contribute in a very significant way to ensuring that when criminals are released from prison, they do not go back. This is shown by a lower likelihood of recidivism.

Our correctional programs enhance public safety results for Canadians by making criminals accountable for their behaviour and by teaching skills that can be used to help them become contributing members to Canadian society, in some cases for the very first time in their lives. Additionally, those criminals who have been identified as requiring specific correctional programs, such as mental health and drug services, will be afforded access to these programs throughout their sentences.

To this end, the Correctional Service of Canada began piloting the integrated correctional program model in January 2010. It was designed to enhance program efficiencies, program effectiveness, and public safety results by combining the most effective aspects of existing interventions with the most promising innovations in the area of correctional programming.

Members of our government are very pleased that our measures to combat crime are working. Recidivism is down. Crime rates are also down.

I call on that member to stop opposing us on all of these measures and to get on board with making our communities safer.

[Public Safety, March 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if that member was listening to my last answer, but the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness is asking Correctional Service Canada to reconsider that decision.

However, this does give me an opportunity to talk about our record on keeping children safe. In fact, we just introduced another bill to keep children safe, and that is going to include measures to end the two-for-one sentencing for child sex offenders. No more two-for-one specials when it comes to our children. We are also establishing the high-risk child sex offender database. We believe parents have the right to know where sexual predators are.

[Public Safety, March 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform the House that the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness is asking Correctional Service Canada to reconsider that particular decision.

Right across this country, Canadian families know that they can count on this Conservative government to make sure that our children are kept safe from sexual predators.

[Public Safety, February 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, children are our most vulnerable and precious members of our society, and this government will do absolutely everything possible to protect them. Not only is this government ending the two-for-one specials for child sex offenders by introducing consecutive sentencing for these crimes, we will also introduce a publicly accessible registry of high-risk child sex offenders.

On this side of the House, we believe that parents have the right to know where these dangerous pedophiles are. I call on all members of the House, including the NDP and the Liberals, to support our tougher penalties for child predators act.

[Public Safety, February 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we are in fact very troubled by the situation that has arisen from the Swiss Arms rifle. This decision was made by bureaucrats and not by politicians. That is why the Minister of Public Safety has ordered an urgent review of this unfortunate decision. I would like to let all Canadians know that all options are on the table to ensure that no firearms owner who acted in good faith suffers any consequences as a result of this terrible situation. All of the options are being explored on a very urgent basis.

[Young Artists, February 14th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, this past fall I was excited to launch my third annual art contest, “A Call to all up and coming Young Artists”. This contest closed in November after receiving dozens upon dozens of submissions from aspiring young artists.

With so much excellent artwork and the abundance of talent in Scarborough Centre, choosing the winners proved quite difficult.

Today I am pleased to offer my congratulations to the following artists for their winning submissions: Mathurah, age 12; Hasan, age 12; Arisa, age 11; Nada, age 10; Lucy, age 9; and young Aruveka, age 5.

The work of these talented individuals is now on display for all Scarborough Centre residents to see. Their artwork has been included in my 2014 parliamentary calendar and is proudly displayed in my constituency office.

I invite all hon. members of the House to join me in congratulating these young contest winners from Scarborough Centre.

[Fair Elections Act, February 10th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the member's speech, and I am a little shocked that the Liberal Party would call this bill “voter suppression”.

If the member is referring to the requirements that voters should be Canadian, should live within the riding they are voting in, and that they should vote only once, then so be it.

I want to talk about the Liberal Party for just a moment, and the statistics of elections in the past. My riding is Scarborough Centre. In 2007, the Conservative government brought in a bill that disallowed people who had only the white voter card from voting. We have heard stories about people just picking the cards up in apartment buildings and voting.

I want to make a point. In Scarborough Centre, in 2006, before that legislation and, after the legislation, in 2008, the actual Liberal vote in Scarborough Centre dropped by over 5,000 votes. In Scarborough—Agincourt, it dropped by 5,000 votes; in Scarborough—Guildwood, it dropped by almost 4,000 votes; in Scarborough Southwest, it dropped by over 4,000; and in Scarborough—Rouge River, which was rampant with allegations of fraud in the last election in 2011, in the 2008 election, after we implemented legislation to stop voter fraud, the Liberal Party vote dropped by over 6,000.

I just want to bring this to the attention of the Liberal Party. When the member talks about allegations of fraud or things like that going on, it is the Liberal Party that is probably the most concerned about this legislation because in fact, proven by historical records, it is their party that is being fraudulently supported.

[Citizenship and Immigration, February 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, while I cannot discuss the actual details of this particular case, as it is before the courts, I would like to inform the members of this House and the Canadian public that Canada Border Services Agency's officers are mandated to remove those who violate our Canadian laws.

Again, it is my understanding that this is before the courts, that there has been a decision made, but I cannot discuss those details at this time.

[Public Safety, February 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, privacy legislation prevents me from discussing the details of this case, in fact any case. However, I do agree it is important to determine the circumstances surrounding any loss of life. CBSA is assisting. I want to assure members of the House and the Canadian public that CBSA is assisting the RCMP and the British Columbia coroners' office by providing all of the information it has on this case.