Bill S-281

An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Act (parole review)

This enactment amends the Corrections and Conditional ReleaseAct to provide that, in the case of an offender who is serving asentence for first degree murder or second degree murder, paroleis reviewed in accordance with the statutory time frames —not on application by the offender — once the Board has decidednot to grant day or full parole to the offender or to cancel or terminatethe offender’s parole.

Justice

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Mr. Speaker. I rise to present a petition in which the petitioners are calling on the government to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and for Parliament to pass Bill S-281, known as Brian's bill, which would do just that, such that convicted murderers would no longer be eligible to apply for parole after they served their minimum sentence. Rather, they would only be able to apply at the time of their automatic review as opposed to the current situation, where they can apply each and every year after their minimum sentence. This is in recognition of the significant trauma and harm it causes to victims' families to be put through repeated parole hearings.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition signed by Canadians urging Parliament to pass Bill S-281, or Brian's bill, named in honour of the late Brian Ilesic, who was brutally murdered by a co-worker at the University of Alberta. The petitioners are calling, more specifically, for Parliament to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, such that convicted murderers would not be able to apply for parole year after year after serving their minimum sentence and would only be able to apply at the time of their automatic review.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition signed by Canadians.

As it stands, convicted murderers are eligible to apply for parole annually after serving their minimum sentence. The petitioners observe that such frequent parole hearings retraumatize the families of murder victims. The bill that the petitioners are urging Parliament to pass is Bill S-281, known as Brian's bill, named in honour of Brian Ilesic, who was murdered at the University of Alberta. He and three of his colleagues were shot point-blank in the back of the head.

The bill would amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act so convicted murderers would only be eligible to apply at the time of their automatic review.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Madam Speaker, I rise to present a petition signed by Canadians.

The petitioners observe that, for the past eight years, the Liberal government has consistently put the rights of criminals ahead of the rights of victims. This includes when it failed to respond to the Supreme Court's unjust Bissonnette decision. This decision struck down a common-sense Harper law that gave judges the discretion to apply consecutive parole ineligibility periods to murderers convicted of multiple murders, to take into account each life lost.

The petitioners call on Parliament, as a modest response to the Bissonnette decision, to pass Bill S-281. This would prevent convicted murderers from applying for parole year after year once they complete their minimum sentence.