Madam Speaker, I stand today in the House in opposition to the proposed Bill C-10, cleverly titled the safe streets and communities act. I say “cleverly titled” because there is certainly no consensus that the proposed changes to the Criminal Code would make Canada's streets and communities any safer than they already are. This is because this bill relies on the false pretense that increased incarceration rates necessarily lead to lower crime rates.
Sadly, when drafting this crime bill, the Conservatives have ignored the evidence. Crime rates in Canada are at a 20-year low and, despite the claim by Conservative colleagues that there has been a sharp rise in unreported crime, the reality does not reflect their over the top rhetoric.
The international examples of countries that employ a similar crime model demonstrate why such an approach is not one that Canada should be adopting. We can take, for instance, the United States. Since undertaking similar crime policies during Ronald Reagan's tenure as president, federal incarceration rates have skyrocketed with the prison population, nearly doubling over a 15-year period. Yet, in spite of the doubling of the prison population, the overall crime rate in the United Sates has remained relatively stagnant. This underscores the idea that deterrence through wide-scale incarceration is not an effective crime prevention strategy. If anything, it only exacerbates the problem.
In the California penal system, inmates are being double and sometimes even triple bunked, often in recreational areas of the prison, such as cafeterias and gyms. They also lack adequate access to rehabilitation and mental health treatment, something that h has a great effect on the rates of recidivism. Even notable Republican, Newt Gingrich, has recently reversed course and publicly criticized the U.S.'s tough on crime approach as being counterproductive to the real goal of reducing overall crime rates.
Why then are the Conservatives leading us down the path that other governments are beginning to abandon? Has the abject failure of this approach in the U.S. taught the government nothing?
Another aspect of Bill C-10 that worries me is who would be caught in the wide-ranging dragnet of this bill. Of particular concern is the effect this legislation would have on persons with mental health issues and serious drug abuse problems. Under the current system of drug sentencing, judges have discretion when issuing sentences. This means that judges can weigh all factors when determining the appropriate sentence, particularly whether the accused has a mental health issue or substance abuse problem. By removing this judicial discretion from the sentencing process, we would be stacking the deck against persons suffering from mental illness and substance abuse. Instead of giving these groups the treatment they need, we would be locking them up in an environment that often fosters and worsens their illness.
I have heard from many of my constituents in the riding of Sudbury who have singled out the effects that this bill would have on these vulnerable groups and they have asked me to oppose this bill for that very reason.
Furthermore, although my Conservative colleagues claim that this bill would target serious organized crime groups in Canada, I fear that, as is often the case in the United States, it will be the low hanging fruit that will be caught in the crosshairs. All indications suggest that the vast majority of the people who would be affected by the proposed changes are not the Hell's Angels, not groups like the Rizzutos and, ultimately, not the people who would generally be defined as “organized crime”. Instead, the vast majority are small-time, low threat, non-violent offenders. Should we really be expending finite budgetary resources to incarcerate people who represent very little threat to public safety in Canada? I and millions of Canadians believe not.
For instance, the inclusion of a mandatory minimum sentencing provision for persons caught cultivating more than five marijuana plants highlights the failure of this legislation to strike an appropriate balance between public safety and a rational model of crime prevention.
I agree that large scale, clandestine grow-op operations are a problem in Canada. It is unfair for homeowners who have unwittingly bought homes that were once used as grow-ops. They need to be protected. However, to create a regime where a teenager growing six plants in his or her parents' basement would face the same mandatory minimum jail sentence as organized crime groups involved with large scale operations, fails to properly differentiate between real and perceived threats to public safety.
Speaking of real versus perceived threats to public safety, the bill would see tougher sentences for persons caught cultivating marijuana than persons convicted of certain sexual offences against children.
I will quote Serj Tankian, who said:
All research and successful drug policy shows
That treatment should be increased,
And law enforcement decreased,
While abolishing mandatory minimum sentences,
I also take particular issue with the approach of packaging such a large volume of legislative changes to the Criminal Code into one massive omnibus bill. There are aspects of the bill that I believe are legitimate and useful, but because of the way it has been presented, I am obliged to vote against it. It seems that the Minister of Justice has taken an all or nothing, take it or leave it approach with this legislation. Either Canadians take the bad with the good or we get nothing at all.
This is not the approach that Canadians expect their elected representatives to take. Canadians expect members of Parliament to have nuanced debates to deal with specific legislative issues. The packaging of nine pieces of legislation into one bill shortchanges Canadian democracy and makes it impossible for me to support specific changes to the Criminal Code, which I would support were they introduced individually.
A 10-minute speech barely allows me to scratch the surface of this legislation. That speaks to the fact that bundling so many unrelated changes into the Criminal Code shortchanges Canadians.
Something that deeply disturbs me is the fact that the minister responsible has failed to provide Canadians with adequate cost estimates relating to the implementation of the bill. Canadians are living in a time of great economic uncertainty and yet the minister is unable to answer even the most basic questions about how much this would cost to implement. It begs the question about how the Conservatives can be trusted to preside over Canada's overall economic prosperity when they cannot provide an accurate cost estimate of legislation that they have had in their back pocket for close to six years.
As an administrator in my past life, I understand the need for financial and budgetary transparency, so this leaves me asking a few very important questions. How many new prisons would be required to house the thousands of Canadians that would be criminalized by this legislation? What are the administrative costs associated with prosecuting thousands of additional criminal proceedings? How much of this burden would be borne on the backs of provinces already struggling with budgetary restrictions and tight fiscal situations? Those questions remain unanswered.
The fact that the minister cannot provide these basic details creates a broader credibility issue for the government. How are Canadians supposed to trust a government that cannot provide cost estimates for its own legislation? Does the minister really know the cost or is the government purposely withholding this information because it knows Canadians will overwhelmingly reject its approach if the real figures were made public? Canadians have a right to know the real costs of this legislation.
What I see in Bill C-10 is an accumulation of ineffective policies to solve a diminishing problem, all at an unknown cost to the taxpayer. What I do not see is how the bill would actually lower crime and recidivism rates and ultimately make Canada's streets and communities any safer.
