Steven Blaney

[Public Safety, October 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the primary responsibility of any government is to protect people's safety—to protect the safety and security of all citizens. We will obviously introduce measures that will protect Canadians from terrorists who seek to harm us, and at the same time we will ensure that we are protecting Canadians' civil liberties.

I want to be clear: we are not overreacting, but we will also not just stand by. We will propose concrete measures to combat radicals, terrorists, Islamists and anyone who wants to attack Canada.

[Public Safety, October 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we will introduce a bill today to clarify the powers of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. This is the first step, but it is clear that we will move forward with other measures and that we will act quickly to protect Canadians' safety while still protecting privacy.

[Public Safety, October 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the first responsibility of the government is to keep Canadians safe. We will not over-react, but it is also time we stop under-reacting to the great threats against us.

[Public Safety, October 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we are proud to be back in business here on the Hill, like last week.

As you are well aware, Mr. Speaker, responsibility for security in the parliamentary precinct rests with your authority. You can count on our full support and that of the Board of Internal Economy.

As members know, the silos we have today are not adequate. Security inside Parliament must be integrated with outside security forces.

[Public Safety, October 23rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, thanks to our government, we have equipped law enforcement agencies with important tools so that they can track terrorists and eventually lay charges and put them behind bars.

Now, we need to continue equipping them with the necessary tools to clarify the law, and that is what we will do.

[Public Safety, October 23rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague seems to want to have his cake and eat it too.

As my colleagues know, we have a four-pillar approach to fighting terrorism. It is important to reach out to communities and invest in prevention. That is what our agencies are doing. However, when individuals break the law and the Criminal Code, they will be charged. What we need to do is give our law enforcement agencies the tools they need to turn charges into sentences.

[Public Safety, October 23rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question. As a solicitor general, I am sure that, like me, he has full confidence in our Canadian law enforcement and national security agency to enforce the law. Our job here is to provide them with the tools. I hope I can count on his support and the support of his party to table legislation here that will keep us safe here in Canada.

[Public Safety, October 23rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, let me be crystal clear. This government is increasing the budgetary resources both for law enforcement agencies and national security agencies. We are moving forward with more tools so that they can protect Canadians, keep us safe, keep this very place safe, and keep every Canadian safe. We will move forward and seek support from the opposition, which unfortunately, we have not always had in the past.

[Public Safety, October 23rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, the resources of Canadian security intelligence agencies have increased by 33%. We hope to have the support of the opposition when we ask for their powers to be clarified so that they not only have the budgetary resources, but also the legal authority they need to protect Canadians.

[Public Safety, October 23rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, our government did not wait for the terrorist attacks to adjust budgetary resources.

Since 2006, we have increased the budget for our Canadian security intelligence agencies by one-third of their capacity and we are doing the same for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. We are increasing the budgets, we are providing tools and we are ensuring that we can track down terrorists. We will continue to do so with tenacity and great vigour.