Bill C-242

Jail Not Bail Act

An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Department of Justice Act

This enactment amends the Criminal Code in order to
(a) replace the principle of restraint in section 493.1 of the Act with the principle of protection of the public;
(b) add the protection of the public as a consideration in decisions on the release of an accused;
(c) add several violent indictable offences to the list of reverse-onus offences in subsection 515(6) of the Act for the determination of judicial interim release;
(d) create a list of major offences, composed of violent reverse-onus offences;
(e) prevent those charged with a major offence from being released after arrest by a peace officer;
(f) require that only a superior court judge may determine, on a reverse-onus basis, whether to permit the interim release of an accused if the accused was charged with a major offence while they were on release in respect of another major offence and if they were convicted of a major offence in the last ten years;
(g) provide for the expiry of the interim release of an accused upon their conviction of an indictable offence while they await sentencing;
(h) prohibit those who have been convicted of an indictable offence in the last ten years from being named as a surety;
(i) require that a justice assessing judicial interim release consider whether or not an accused is a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident and, if not, whether they may attempt to leave the country;
(j) make it a condition that those who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents deposit their passports in order to be released whether by a peace officer after arrest or by a justice on judicial interim release; and
(k) change the standard of assessment under paragraph 515(10)(b) of the Act of whether an accused, if released, will commit an offence or interfere with the administration of justice from a “substantial likelihood” to “whether it is reasonably foreseeable” and require that the criminal history of an accused be taken into consideration.
It also amends the Department of Justice Act to require the Minister of Justice to prepare and table in Parliament an annual report on the state of judicial interim release in Canada.

Opposition Motion—Passage of Bill C-242

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the thing that comes to mind with that particular question is this: If we take a look at Bill C-242, the bill being proposed in this motion, I suspect that no legal opinion would give any sense of comfort that it is compliant with our Constitution or the Charter of Rights. In fact, I would argue that it would not be found compliant if allowed to proceed.

It also raises a question. We can remember the Conservative policy of “three strikes and you're out,” the American-style policy we debated a little over a week ago. Why did they not include that policy in Bill C-242? Have they changed their attitudes toward it? Do they see it as another form of legislation they can generate more funds on?

Who knows? We will continue to remain focused on my colleague's constituents and Canadians as a whole to ensure we get the bail reform that Canadians want and deserve.

[Amarjeet Gill, Conservative, Brampton West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we all know that the government has not given us any concrete evidence or produced any bill that would help to protect Canadians from crime.

The Liberals keep asking for my support. They need to know that first they have to present something to us which we can analyze. We know that we want to protect Canadians. We want to help them in their everyday lives, but members opposite keep asking questions. Having a “do nothing” approach is not going to go anywhere. We have to work hard to provide safety whenever we have a bill in front of us.

We are presenting Bill C-242. It is the best jail not bail act. I ask members to please accept it so that we can move forward and provide safety for Canadians.

[Amarjeet Gill, Conservative, Brampton West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in the chamber to support Conservative Bill C-242, the jail not bail act.

I will be sharing my time with my colleague, the member for Richmond Hill South.

Canadians are tired of waking up to headlines that read like crime thrillers except that they are real and are happening in our neighbourhoods. In Brampton, families do not feel safe anymore. Crime is no longer the exception but is becoming the norm. Residents and communities are being impacted every day, with violent home invasions, daylight shootings, carjackings, sexual assaults and repeat offenders walking free. This is the result of Liberal catch-and-release justice and a broken bail system that puts criminals ahead of victims and communities. It is why I rise today in support of Bill C-242, the jail not bail act, a Conservative solution to restore law and order and to protect innocent Canadians.

Let me share the statistics under the Liberal catch-and-release system. Homicides are up 29%, violent crime is up by 55%, sexual assaults have increased by 76%, extortion has surged by 330%, auto thefts are up by 25%, hate crimes are up by 258% and firearms crimes are up by 130%. These are not just numbers; these are real people, victims whose lives have been shattered by repeat violent offenders who should never have been released.

In Markham, a 54-year-old man was left seriously injured in a violent home invasion. One of the suspects was already out on bail despite facing charges for robbery with a firearm and attempted murder. In Toronto, a woman was stabbed in broad daylight by a man who had been released on bail just days earlier. In Vancouver, organized crime rings are recruiting youth to commit car thefts and armed robberies, knowing they will be released within hours. In my community of Brampton, a home invasion resulted in the death of a young Canadian. In one of the most heartbreaking cases, Bailey McCourt was murdered by her ex-husband just hours after he was released on bail following an assault conviction.

We are witnessing an exponential rise in crime across the country, but nowhere is it more evident than in my hometown of Brampton. In the Peel region, police recently made the largest drug bust in its history. Shockingly, six of the nine accused were already out on bail. In another major operation, targeting an extortion ring, half of the people arrested were also on judicial release. Just weeks ago in Brampton, a violent home invasion ended with a father's being shot for doing nothing more than defending his home and family. This is the result of the Liberals' Bill C-5 and Bill C-75, which introduced the so-called principle of restraint, a policy that prioritizes release even when the accused has a violent history or is likely to reoffend.

Police officers, victims and legal experts have all said the same thing: The bail system is broken, and now is the time to fix it. The solution is jail, not bail, restoring safety and trust back on our streets, in our homes and in our lives. Bill C-242, the jail not bail act, is a common-sense Conservative solution that would put public safety first and restore trust in our justice system. Judges and police would have to prioritize protecting the public, not just the rights of the accused, when deciding on bail.

The bill would take away automatic bail for violent offenders. If someone is charged with a major violent offence, like attempted murder, sexual assault, kidnapping or armed robbery, they would not be released automatically. If they have already been convicted of a major offence in the last 10 years and are charged again while out on bail, the bill proposes that they must be detained.

The bill would allow only judges to decide bail for repeat offenders. Police officers can now release someone charged with a major offence. Only a superior court judge would be able to make that decision. It would also remove criminals as sureties. People convicted of a serious crime in the last 10 years would not be able to act as a surety; there would be no more criminals vouching for criminals.

The bill proposes stronger rules for non-citizens. Non-citizens and non-permanent residents would hand over their passport before being released, reducing flight risk.

The bill would offer better risk assessment. The law would change the standard from “substantial likelihood” to “reasonably foreseeable”, making it easier to detain someone who poses a threat. Judges would also consider the accused's criminal history, including past failures to comply with bail. It would ask for an annual transparency report. The minister of justice would have to publish a yearly report on bail reforms, bail outcomes, repetition and disparities so Canadians would know what is working and what is not.

Conservatives are taking the lead. While the Liberals stall and spin, Conservatives are acting. We are calling on the House to immediately pass Bill C-242. We are ready to support extended sittings to get this done because Canadians deserve safe streets, a justice system they can depend on to protect them, and no more headlines about violent criminals walking free.

Before I end, I have a message for Brampton residents, which is that they should stay strong. We all know that injustice has risen in our community for far too long; that is why, as their member of Parliament, I, alongside the Conservative Party, will work tirelessly to make our streets safer. I will stop at nothing to ensure that the residents of Brampton will once again feel safe and protected in the community and in their own home.

The choice is clear. Canadians are tired of excuses. We can continue down the Liberal path of hug-a-thug justice, where innocent, law-abiding Canadians live in fear, or we can stand up for the victims, restore law and order and put violent criminals where they belong: behind bars. Let us pass the jail not bail act. Let us protect Canadians. Let us bring safety back to our streets.

[David McKenzie, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise, as it always is, in this House to speak on behalf of the citizens of Calgary Signal Hill. Striking a balance between competing interests is the work of this House of Commons. It is a job that is frequently challenging, but it is the responsibility that we have undertaken and it is what we owe Canadians.

Today, in our criminal justice system, the consideration of the protection of the public has taken a back seat to the interests of offenders. We are talking about striking a balance in our justice system, and right now, the scales of justice are out of balance and must be corrected.

The reason the Conservative Party has brought forward Bill C-242 is to help government members. Clearly, they are busy thinking about things, but they are not doing things, and Canadians require action. At this point in time, crime statistics are up throughout our country, from province to province, and we have to do something.

In August, just two months ago, I attended a meeting in Calgary with senior members of the Calgary Police Service. At that time, a superintendent described a circumstance that had occurred in Calgary in July that illustrates well the problem we have and the problem we must fix. The superintendent described a crime wave that took place in Calgary through the month of July that was identified by the police service. They responded, they put a task force together and they commenced making arrests.

A group of youths and young adults were committing home break-ins. However, very frighteningly to the police, who traditionally see criminals break into homes for the purpose of theft and focusing on times when homes are not occupied, this brazen group had been breaking into homes at night, with no consideration for whether the homes were occupied. Indeed, they seemed to prefer to break into homes that were occupied.

An individual was caught red-handed, as the expression goes, in a home at night with the residents of the home there. He was arrested, taken before a justice of the peace and released. This might not be much of a surprise or shock; the individual's criminal history and record may have been considered at that time. However, the same individual was arrested by the Calgary Police Service within a matter of days of his first arrest and released. Again, he was in a home unlawfully at night, with the residents of that home present. For a second time, this individual was taken before a justice of the peace and released. That might begin to shock the senses, but the fact is that this same individual was arrested for a third time within one week, again at night in a residence with the residents of that home present. He was taken before a justice of the peace for a third time and, yes, released a third time.

This is a system that is broken. We must make changes, and there is no point in waiting. The work has been done. The Conservative Party has done that work in co-operation with the House, and the members opposite should take note.

I wish to note the comments of some individuals with respect to incidences like the one I described, as related to me by the Calgary Police Service.

This is from Scott Weller, a home invasion victim:

As someone who knows firsthand the trauma of a violent home invasion, I believe strongly in the need for Jail not Bail. My family was attacked in what should have been the safety of our own home. The idea that violent offenders could be released back onto our streets is terrifying—not just for us, but for every Canadian family. That night changed how we live and forced us to secure our home in ways I never imagined necessary. This will have a lasting impact on our family and our sense of safety. This legislation recognizes that public safety must come first. It sends a clear message that violent crime has real consequences, and that the rights of victims and families come before the rights of criminals.

Here is a second comment on Conservative Bill C-242: “The Jail Not Bail Act is therefore more than legislation—it is an essential corrective—a lifeline capable of disrupting the revolving door of abuse and saving innocent lives.” That is from Cait Alexander of End Violence Everywhere.

Lastly, this is from Michelle Mollineaux, board member of Mend Canada, an indigenous-led organization in our country: “This is the kind of common-sense legislation Canadians have been demanding: a framework that rebalances our bail system to prioritize public safety while still upholding the Charter right to bail.”

These quotations highlight exactly the circumstances on our streets, exactly what this problem is and exactly what the Conservative common-sense legislation would do to sort this matter out.

In my own city of Calgary, over the last 10 years, we have seen a 66% increase in violent crime. We have seen a 33% increase in sexual assaults, a 326% increase in firearms crime and a 342% increase in extortion. With crime rates up and criminals being arrested but released, we have a problem in our justice system. There is a hole here that must be fixed, and Conservative Bill C-242 would plug that hole.

Our constituents expect us to act responsibly. Waiting around until the Liberal Party addresses this issue and brings legislation before the House is not responsible. I will say again to my friends opposite that the work has been done. They can take the rest of the day off. We are set to go.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we believe that the time is right for our bill, Bill C-242, to be passed in the House of Commons. We are doing this because the Liberals have had ample opportunity to put legislation forward, and they have failed to do it. I do not know what they are waiting for. Do more people need to be brutally beaten and raped by repeat offenders? At what point do we say enough is enough?

The opportunity is now. Let us not wait any longer. I implore the government to bring the legislation forward now. It is already written. I do not know what the government is waiting for, but I know that children like little E need to have hope in the government. I ask it to please bring legislation forward or pass the Conservatives' bill.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, 1,600 is the number of crimes that happen in this country every single day. That is almost one crime per minute.

These are not statistics. They are innocent people being hit over the head with baseball bats. They are jewellery stores being smashed in and opened up by an incoming automobile, which is then used to steal the proceeds families have spent their entire lives earning. They are the people who wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of stomping feet on their living room floor as home invaders break in to steal, rob, pillage and much worse.

They are the Farooqi family, whose courageous father came running out to protect his defenceless children against home invaders and was shot in the throat. It is a three-year-old girl who was mercilessly raped by a chronic repeat offender, a scumbag who had already been convicted of raping a 12-year-old boy yet, under Liberal laws, was out on the street.

That was the case for a woman killed in Saint-Jérôme by her former partner, a man who had already been arrested 30 times and released 16 times before killing his partner.

It is the case of a beautiful young mother, Bailey McCourt, murdered by her ex, who was out on bail and had been released only three hours earlier. He was only four kilometres away from the courthouse that granted him that Liberal bail.

These are not just sensationalist stories, as Liberals like to dismiss them; these are facts. While the justice minister condescendingly dismissed these crimes, saying we are not in the Wild West, the facts would beg to differ.

Under the Liberal government, since it has taken office, violent crime is up 55%, extortion is up 330%, homicides are up 29% and sexual assaults are up 76%. There is a cause and there is an effect. We know the source of this crime. It is Liberal bail, as passed into law by Liberal Bill C-75. It requires judges to release the accused at the “earliest reasonable opportunity” on the “least onerous” restrictions. Those are the words embedded in the law. As a result, the same offenders can commit literally hundreds of offences and be released, often within hours of their latest arrest.

Police say they have often not even finished the paperwork in the arrest and the offender is back out on the street. I have had police officers tell me they have arrested the same offender three times in the same day. One police officer in the Toronto area told me that in most arrests, the criminals happily confess to the crime in the back seat of the car because they do not care about being convicted anymore. They know that Liberal laws will turn them loose, regardless of the outcome of the trial.

Liberals pulled a bait and switch in order to get elected. In the last election, they knew Canadians were fed up with Liberal bail, so they said, “Give us a fourth chance and we will reverse course.” What happened? It has now been six months since the Prime Minister was elected on the promise that he would reverse Liberal bail. Where are we? There has not been a single Liberal bill to reverse the bail system they set up. We are six months in.

We all know what needs to happen. The police have basically written the legislative repeal that is necessary for us to fix the Liberal mess, yet there is no bill. There is nothing. There is zero, zip, zilch.

Maybe it is because the Prime Minister took the unprecedentedly reckless act of appointing Justin Trudeau's most incompetent minister to the job. The justice minister was the immigration minister who literally destroyed the best system in the world, increasing the numbers by 300% over the previous norm, allowing criminals to come into our country unvetted and swamping our housing, jobs and health care with too many people too fast. He then went on to the housing portfolio, where he created the worst housing crisis in the OECD, and now he is in charge of the Criminal Code.

Compound that problem with the Minister of Public Safety, who should resign for having gone ahead with a plan to confiscate property from law-abiding firearms owners. It was a plan that he was caught on tape saying would not work. This is who we have as the keystone cops in charge of reversing the Liberal crime wave of the last decade.

Some people say we need bail reform. We have bail reform. It is called Bill C-75. What we need is to undo Liberal bail reform; hence today, we are calling for the government to scrap Liberal bail and replace it with jail, not bail. Today, we put forward a motion that would allow Parliament to adopt Bill C-242, the jail not bail act. It was put forward by the brilliant member of Parliament for Oxford, Ontario. This proposal is backed by police, crime victims and everybody who wants to stop crime.

The House will hear more from the member for Niagara South, with whom I am splitting my time on this matter.

I will note that members of the government do not need to do a thing. They just need to get out of the way. They have already broken the bail system. They brought in the chaos we are now experiencing. We are not asking them to put on a cape and come to the rescue. We are asking them to simply get out of the way. If they do one thing, it should be to sit on their hands and let the House of Commons pass this motion to quickly push through the jail not bail act. We can lock up the criminals who have been terrorizing our streets. That is all we need them to do.

In fact, some people say they are doing nothing. It would be great if they did nothing, because nothing would be a massive improvement over what they have been doing, which is doing violence to our Criminal Code. Our Criminal Code has allowed criminals to do violence to our people.

The answer is actually very simple. Pseudo-intellectuals in Liberal circles love to say the problem is much more complicated. It is not a complicated problem. The statistics tell us the extent of it. We have a very small number of criminals doing a phenomenal amount of crime. The same 40 offenders in Vancouver got arrested 6,000 times. That is 150 arrests per offender per year, and those were just the occasions they were caught. Almost all of the crime is done by a tiny group of rampant reoffenders. If we keep them in jail, they cannot reoffend. It is very simple.

We did this under the previous Conservative government. One thing happened that was unsurprising and one that was maybe counterintuitive. The first thing, unsurprisingly, is that crime went down by 25%. It plummeted. It was the biggest drop in crime in modern Canadian history. It worked.

The second part was a bit counterintuitive. What else went down? It was incarcerations. After Liberals warned that we would have to build new jails to accommodate all of the prisoners, fewer people, in fact, ended up in jail. Why? It is because the same offenders who were coming in and going out just stayed behind bars. We had already reserved them a room. It was like the Hotel California, where they checked out but never really left. We kept them in the cell and never let them out. We locked them up and threw away the key.

Something else happened. The small-time offenders or those looking to get involved in a life of crime said, “Hell, no. The penalty is too serious. I'm going to get a job and follow the law.” Deterrence works.

The facts are in. Liberal bail has brought hell to our streets. The only one keeping that hell in place is the Prime Minister. He and his government need to get out of the way so Conservatives can scrap Liberal bail, lock up the criminals and throw away the key. Let us do this not out of vengeance or spite, but out of love for law-abiding people so that our children can once again play safely in our streets, so that people can go to bed at night in peace and tranquillity, so that when they wake up in the morning, their car is still there, and so that we have a safe country where law-abiding people can live good, secure, happy, worry-free lives. That is what we are working for. Will the government get out of the way and let us get it done?

[Caroline Desrochers, Liberal, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, those are discussions that we are prepared to have in the context of Bill C-2.

Today we are talking about the motion to adopt Bill C-242, which was introduced by our opposition colleagues. Crime is a problem. We know that and we acknowledge it. We want to get to work and that is why we are holding consultations with police forces, municipalities and provincial and territorial premiers. We want to ensure that we present a comprehensive plan.

[Caroline Desrochers, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are worried about crime in their communities, and let me be clear at the outset: The concerns are valid. When Canadians see stories of violent incidents in their neighbourhoods and when they hear about repeat offenders cycling in and out of the system, it shakes their confidence. It makes families wonder whether their kids are safe walking home from school, whether seniors are safe going to the grocery store and whether their communities are as secure as they once were.

We must never brush these concerns aside or suggest to Canadians that it is all in their heads or that they should not be concerned. The truth is that violent crime is a problem. Recidivism is a problem. Canadians expect us, as legislators, to seriously and urgently respond to this problem with solutions, not slogans.

The motion before us today tries to frame the issue in very simple terms. It says crime is up 55%, repeat offenders are on the streets and the solution is to pass one bill, Bill C-242, the so-called jail not bail act. While it may be politically convenient for the Conservatives to package such a complex issue into a single slogan, Canadians know that public safety is much more complicated than that.

I would like to remind the House of what has already been accomplished. In 2023, under a Liberal government, Parliament passed significant bail reforms. These reforms specifically targeted violent repeat offenders, including those charged with serious offences involving firearms. We heard the concerns of provincial and territorial premiers and police associations, and we took action.

These reforms tightened the rules to make it more difficult for individuals charged with serious violent crimes to get bail. This was not just a slogan; it was action.

I am standing here to suggest that the work is not finished; it is far from it. In fact during the most recent election, Canadians gave the new Liberal government a fresh mandate to go further. Our platform was clear. We committed to strengthening bail again where it is failing, we committed to ensuring that prosecutors and judges have the resources they need, and we committed to making new investments in victim services and community safety programs. That is the plan Canadians voted for. That is the plan we are implementing in the current session of Parliament.

The Conservatives would like Canadians to believe that bail is the entire story, but public safety is not just about what happens at a bail hearing. Public safety is about prevention, prosecution and protection, and our government is acting on all these fronts.

Let me take a moment to talk about prosecution. One of the real challenges we face is that Crown prosecutors in courts are overburdened. Cases take too long, and dangerous offenders sometimes slip through the cracks, not because of soft laws but because of an under-resourced system. That is why our platform committed to increasing resources for Crown attorneys so they can prepare cases more effectively, so they can oppose bail where necessary and so they can ensure that trials move forward without unnecessary delay.

That is also why we are expanding resources for judges. Judges need the ability to impose strict release conditions when they believe someone poses a risk to public safety. They need the time and the capacity to make those decisions thoughtfully, and we are giving them those tools.

Let us now turn to prevention. If we want to permanently reduce crime, we cannot focus solely on punishment; we also have to focus on prevention. Our platform was clear on this. We are committed to expanding programs to help youth build better lives and steer them away from gangs and crime.

We are committed to strengthening mental health and addiction services because we know that untreated mental health and untreated addictions cause many people to reoffend. We are committed to the building safer communities fund and to indigenous justice initiatives because we know that reconciliation and equity promote safety.

The motion before us ignores prevention completely. It ignores prosecution completely. It says the solution is one bill and longer sitting hours, but Canadians know that one bill would not make their neighbourhoods safer overnight. They know it takes a comprehensive plan, one that is done hand in hand with the people at the front line of implementing the laws we vote on in here.

Conservatives call it “catch and release”. We call it listening to Canadians and delivering real solutions, not slogans. Let me be clear: The government agrees that repeat violent offenders must be dealt with firmly. We agree that Canadians deserve to feel safe in their communities, and we are acting on that commitment. In fact, legislation to strengthen bail further will be coming forward in the current session. We have been very clear that this is the responsible path forward, and we have committed to protecting Canadians.

However, we will not reduce the issue to a bumper sticker. We will not pretend that public safety can be restored by slogans, because Canadians have heard slogans before, and they voted to not be governed by slogans. They heard them during the decade the Conservatives were in power. The Conservatives had 10 years to act. They had 10 years in which they could have strengthened bail, resourced prosecutors and invested in prevention. They did not; they failed. Now suddenly, Conservatives have discovered slogans about jail, not bail, but Canadians are not looking for slogans. They are looking for solutions.

Let me remind the House what those solutions look like under a Liberal government. They look like targeted bail reform, which was passed in 2023, with more reforms coming in the current session. They look like investment in prosecutors and judges so the justice system works the way it should. They look like prevention programs for youth, addiction treatment programs and mental health supports that reduce crime before it happens. They look like stronger victim services, because safety also means standing with the people who have already been harmed. That is the Liberal plan. It is what we campaigned on, it is what Canadians voted and it is what we are delivering.

The motion before us today is not a genuine plan for public safety; it is a political tactic, a mere slogan. It is an attempt to persuade Canadians that all of the problems would solved, if only this bill were to pass.

Canadians know better than that. They know that public safety is a complex issue that requires a comprehensive approach. They know that only the Liberal government will implement a comprehensive approach like this.

We must recognize the Canadians' concerns and accept the reality that crime is a problem. However, we must not give in to the politics of fear or political slogans. We have to do the heavy lifting involved in building a fair, firm and effective justice system, something that our government is committed to achieving. We intend to act on that commitment in the current session, which is why I cannot support this motion.

[Patricia Lattanzio, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Trois-Rivières.

I am pleased to speak today on issues that continue to impact the safety of our communities and the fairness of our criminal justice system, namely the operation and reform of Canada's bail system.

In recent months, communities across the country have voiced deep concerns about the ability of the criminal justice system to respond effectively to repeat and violent offenders. Let me be clear: These concerns are valid and they demand a serious, coordinated response.

That is why I welcome the opportunity to speak today not only about the federal government's past and ongoing efforts to strengthen bail laws but also about the collaborative work under way with provinces and territories, and the government's intention to table new legislation this fall.

I will begin by speaking about Bill C-242, the jail not bail act, which was introduced by the member for Oxford. Bill C‑242 includes provisions to expand the reverse onus provisions for serious offences.

I am pleased to see that there is common ground between the Conservative opposition and our new Liberal government, which was elected on a promise to crack down on repeat and violent offenders. Our election promise responds to a concern shared by many Canadians that individuals who pose a serious risk to public safety should not be released without rigorous judicial oversight. It also reflects the desire to ensure that the bail system takes into account concerns about reoffending and violent offences that communities across the country have raised.

However, while Bill C‑242 aims to overcome fears that individuals who pose a risk to public safety will be released without judicial oversight, the way it is drafted raises serious concerns about whether these measures could actually be effective and whether they comply with the fundamental principles of justice and proportionality.

There seems to be one crucial element that is clearly missing from this bill. Frankly, I am, at the very least, relieved. It seems the Conservatives have finally opened their eyes because they have flip-flopped on the controversial “three strikes” proposal. This kind of rhetoric may score political points, but, in reality, it solves absolutely nothing. Everywhere it has been applied, particularly in the United States, it has failed and has been ineffective at protecting citizens or reducing crime. It seems the Conservatives have finally realized this, as they chose not to include it in their own bill, Bill C-242.

However, this flip-flop raises fundamental questions. The Conservatives owe Canadians an explanation. They need to tell Canadians why they have changed their minds and publicly acknowledge that this proposal was not only misguided but also dangerous. Canadians deserve a clear answer. They deserve to know why an idea inspired by the far right in the United States, entirely incompatible with Canadian realities and our justice system, was ever even considered acceptable by the same people who claim to prioritize public safety and the public interest.

Therefore, I hope, following my remarks, a member of the opposition will rise and offer an explanation and perhaps even an apology to Canadians. Yes, they could offer an apology for even considering such legislation inspired by foreign, far right, extreme models rather than laws designed for Canada and made in Canada, laws that reflect our communities, our values and our justice system.

Let us now take a sombre look at the Conservative record when it comes to criminal justice.

In 2008, the Harper government passed the Tackling Violent Crime Act, imposing a mandatary minimum sentence for firearm offences. The Supreme Court struck this down in R v. Nur, calling it “cruel and unusual”.

In 2012, they doubled down with the Safe Streets and Communities Act, extending mandatory minimums for drug offences. In R v. Lloyd, again, the Supreme Court struck this down.

In 2009, they pushed through the so-called Truth in Sentencing Act, limiting judicial discretion on credit for pre-trial custody. In R v. Safarzadeh-Markhali, it was struck down again for being overbroad.

In 2011, they introduced the Protecting Canadians by Ending Sentence Discounts for Multiple Murders Act. The Supreme Court invalidated it in R v. Bissonnette, ruling that stacked parole ineligibility violated human dignity.

In 2013, they passed legislation making the victim surcharge mandatory and non-waivable. In R v. Boudreault, the court ruled it “unconstitutional” and “cruel and unusual” for the poorest and most marginalized offenders.

Most recently, the mandatory minimum for reckless discharge of a firearm, another Harper-era invention, was struck down in R v. Hills in 2023.

The list goes on, but allow me to focus on the real action that the new Liberal government is taking. Most recently, Canadians sent the federal government a clear message. They are concerned about repeat and violent offenders and want to see urgent action. This is why the new Liberal government is firmly committed to introducing a bill this fall that will build on previous legislative reforms to strengthen Canada's bail and sentencing laws.

This forthcoming legislation will once again be shaped by strong intergovernmental co-operation. This renewed collaboration among the federal, provincial and territorial governments reflects a shared commitment to public safety and a recognition that meaningful change depends on coordinated action across jurisdictions. By working together, our governments can ensure that our bail laws are not only stronger on paper but effective in practice.

The provinces and territories also play a vital role in collecting and sharing bail data. Leadership in these areas is essential to improving the system as a whole. Bail data collection does not occur at the national level. This responsibility falls to provincial and territorial governments. Without consistent and comprehensive data from all jurisdictions, it is difficult to assess how bail laws are working, what gaps exist, and what changes are needed.

Canadians deserve a bail system that protects communities while respecting rights. They deserve a sentencing regime that holds offenders accountable while promoting rehabilitation. They deserve to see all orders of government working together not just to pass laws but to implement them in ways that make a real difference in the lives of all Canadians. The government intends to do just that.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, in my years as a parliamentarian, what I have witnessed is that the Conservatives tend to use the issue of crime and safety more as a fundraising tool or bumper-sticker issue to try to create fear in the minds of Canadians. We are genuinely concerned about the issue, but what has surprised me about this particular motion and Bill C-242 is that there is no reference to their American-style three strikes law. I am wondering why that is. Have they abandoned that particular policy?

We just debated a motion on that brought forward by the Conservatives. It was defeated by a majority of the members of the House. Have they abandoned that particular policy?

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Cloverdale—Langley City.

I have to ask myself what we are even doing here, talking, talking, talking, when the measures that need to be taken are quite clear. Unfortunately, because of the dithering and the government that has been in power for the past 10 years, we now have laws that make our communities a lot less safe. Just ask the family of Gabie Renaud, who was brutally murdered in Saint-Jérôme a few weeks ago and whose body was just found. Just ask the family of Marylène Levesque, who was murdered in Quebec City five years ago by Eustachio Gallese while he was on unsupervised release. We are talking about numerous situations that could have been avoided, numerous deaths that could have been avoided.

The harsh reality is that right now, in Canada, streets that were once peaceful and quiet have become danger zones for too many families. Violent crime is up 55% under this Liberal government, and that figure is not a statistical abstraction, it is the horrendous reality of forgotten victims and broken communities. Homicides have increased by 29%, gun-related crime has more than doubled in many areas, and extortion is up 357%. We need only look at what is happening at restaurants in Montreal and Laval. They are being set on fire, and gangs are going in and extorting the owners, forcing them to pay protection money, known as pizzo. Nothing is being done to help these restaurant owners get out of this situation.

What is happening at the moment is no accident. It is the direct result of the laws put in place by the Liberal government. We have spoken at great length about Bill C-5, which allows dangerous criminals to serve their prison sentence at home, and Bill C-75, the bill that brings us here again today and that makes it far too easy to get bail. It is spelled out in the law. Judges do not even have a choice. Dangerous criminals are automatically released.

I am not even talking about what has been done in terms of managing parole. Members may recall that after the murder of Marylène Levesque in Quebec City, I got a motion passed asking the Standing Committee on Public Safety to investigate what happened at the Parole Board. The board had undergone a complete purge, particularly the members from Quebec, who were a bit too conservative for the government. They were replaced by new members who had very little experience, if any, and who were primarily chosen for their very left-leaning, very woke ideology. As a result, decisions were made, in particular the decision to release Eustachio Gallese on parole, as is the case currently with Jonathan Blanchet, the man who killed Gabie Renaud. This guy was arrested 30 times and released 16 times under certain conditions. However, he violated those conditions, yet there were no consequences. How can a person violate the conditions of his release 16 times and still be free? It makes no sense.

Once again, we are seeing an increase in crime. In Montreal, for example, assaults and domestic violence are on the rise. Across Quebec, sex crimes have increased by 20% in just two years. Child pornography cases have doubled. Organized crime is even spreading to the regions, recruiting young people into a brutal cycle that no one in this Liberal government seems interested in ending.

Today, we are debating a motion calling for Bill C-242, the jail not bail act, introduced by my colleague from Oxford, to be fast-tracked. We are asking that the bill be passed immediately and sent to committee in order to speed up the necessary legislative changes.

We should keep in mind that the new Prime Minister has been in office for six months. During the election campaign, before he came to power, the Prime Minister said that his government would bring in changes quickly to get crime in Canada back under control.

What has happened over the last six months when it comes to crime and crime bills? Nothing, zip, nada.

I am sharing my time with my colleague, the member for Cloverdale—Langley City, and I hope she will elaborate on that. We have some astonishing examples of problematic Liberal measures and promises made by a supposedly new government that was going to make a difference, but that is currently doing absolutely nothing.

We are not asking it to promise us the moon. We just want the government to stop. There are enough bills. We want the government to let us pass them quickly to bring about change. Bill C-242 can be dealt with if the House accepts it today. We can get that done and move forward.

The government is not doing anything even though we are ready to move more quickly to prevent more deaths. Right now, criminals on bail or parole are laughing their heads off and doing as they please. Who pays the price? It is victims of domestic violence, women who are scared to leave their homes. Even if they stay at home, criminals have no qualms about coming back to assault them or worse, kill them. That is not acceptable in 2025 in a country like Canada.

We went through problems a few years ago because of Bill C-5, which introduced house arrest. The bill was intended to empty the prisons, and it was introduced by David Lametti, a former minister of justice who is going to become an ambassador, though I do not know to what country. Bill C‑5 was brought forward on the grounds that there were too many Black, racialized and indigenous people in prison. The intent was to narrow the scope of the Criminal Code so that fewer of these people would go to jail.

The first person to take advantage of Bill C‑5 after it came into force was a white man from Montreal who had committed aggravated sexual assault against his ex. Instead of going to prison, he got to sit at home watching Netflix. That is how things started, and the number of similar cases only grew. With Bill C‑5, Montreal's street gangs could rest easy. They knew that they would not go to prison if they were arrested but would instead get to stay at home doing whatever they wanted. We spoke out against this from the very beginning. We voted against the bill even before it was passed, and we said that it was not going to work. A few years have passed, and sure enough, we are now seeing the result.

Two and a half years ago, I tabled Bill C‑325, which aimed to reverse Bill C‑5. There were also provisions in Bill C‑325 requiring that criminal charges be brought against a person who fails to comply with their release conditions. Unfortunately, this was defeated by our Liberal colleagues, with support from the NDP.

I must compliment the Bloc Québécois, which initially supported Bill C‑5 but then realized its mistake. The Bloc Québécois voted with me in support of Bill C‑325. Ultimately, Bill C‑325 was defeated by the Liberals and the NDP. As a result, Bill C‑5 is still in effect.

There was Bill C‑5 and Bill C-75. Today we are talking about the content of Bill C‑75. We are talking about the bill brought forward by my colleague from Oxford, Bill C‑242. It can be confusing when all these numbers are flying around, but what members need to understand is this. No one can understand how a person can be arrested and then be released three hours later to start committing crimes again. No one can understand why that law was enacted. That is the reason for Bill C‑242. We want to undo all of that and restore a justice system that is acceptable to and accepted by the population, who is asking for no more than that.

When we see women like Gabie Renaud murdered by a man who was charged 30 times and who violated his release conditions 16 times, it is impossible to understand how he was able to go and kill Gabie. It is unacceptable.

We are basically lending a helping hand to this government, which does not seem to have the time to change course quickly. In six months, nothing has happened. We are putting bills forward. My colleague from Oxford has tabled a bill. Today's motion asks that we expedite the process and send this to committee in order to protect Canadians.

[Ruby Sahota, Liberal, Secretary of State (Combatting Crime)]

Mr. Speaker, as Secretary of State for Combatting Crime, I appreciate the opportunity to debate this motion. Public safety and our bail and sentencing laws play a critical role in the criminal justice system. These are some of the most important laws that are supposed to ensure not only that justice is served but also that Canadians are safe in their communities.

Over the past years, Canadians have raised legitimate concerns about violent crime and repeat offending. These concerns are real, and our government is working hard with law enforcement, Crown attorneys and other levels of government across this country to act on them. It is encouraging to see alignment between the Conservative opposition and the newly elected Liberal government when it comes to improving public safety, including through the adoption of stronger laws to build safer communities.

I have good news for my colleagues. The Minister of Justice will be introducing legislation during this parliamentary session to comprehensively change parts of the Criminal Code and other aspects of the criminal justice system. These comprehensive changes would strengthen bail reform in this country, to have harsher, longer sanctions for violent offenders and to make sure we have the support to help keep communities safe with direct investments in law enforcement.

As set out in our 2025 electoral platform, our government is committed to strengthening the Criminal Code bail provisions to make it onerous to obtain bail for those charged with violent or organized crime related to auto theft, home invasion, trafficking in persons, human smuggling and drug trafficking. Our government is also committed to adding a requirement for courts to impose a firearms or weapons prohibition when granting bail to anyone charged with an organized crime-related offence.

Our government has committed to reforming Canada's sentencing regime to better address repeat and violent offending. More specifically, the 2025 electoral platform includes commitments to change the law to direct courts to give primary consideration to the principles of denunciation and deterrence when determining a sentence for anyone who has numerous convictions. That means courts would have to primarily consider a sentence that would deter repeat offenders. It includes commitments to broaden sentencing tools by allowing consecutive sentences for violent or organized crime-related auto theft.

The Prime Minister followed up on these electoral commitments when he agreed to strengthen the Criminal Code bail and sentencing laws during the June 2 first ministers meeting. Later that month, the Minister of Justice also announced publicly that bail and sentencing reforms will be forthcoming this fall to address growing concerns of repeat and violent offending at all stages of the criminal justice process. Over the summer, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Public Safety and I undertook significant engagement with the provinces and territories, law enforcement and legal stakeholders alike to inform and develop these reforms.

Now, although looking to future solutions is important, it is equally important to look to the past and to properly understand our criminal justice system and the current state of the law. For example, despite a persistent narrative that former Bill C-75 was soft on crime, I want to highlight that it explicitly strengthened the Criminal Code bail provisions as they relate to intimate partner violence. Former Bill C-75 made it more onerous for individuals previously convicted of intimate partner violence to obtain bail. This change was based on research suggesting that victims of intimate partner violence face a higher risk of violence from their intimate partners after charges are laid. This was a critical step in recognizing the unique risks posed by repeat offenders in intimate partner violence cases and in ensuring that survivors are protected.

More recently, in 2023, Parliament unanimously enacted former Bill C-48 in response to a new and pressing challenge: growing concerns about repeat violent offending involving firearms and other weapons at the bail stage. The former Bill C-48 amendments were not developed in isolation. They too were the result of extensive collaboration with the provinces and territories. They also responded directly to calls for reform from premiers across the country.

Among other changes, former Bill C-75 created a reverse onus at bail to better address the heightened public safety risks posed by those accused of repeat violent offending with firearms and other weapons. That meant that violent offenders with firearms now had to prove they deserve bail, as opposed to the previous process through which the Crown was having to prove why someone should not receive bail.

This presented a significant change that reflected the seriousness of this type of offending and the need to ensure that the courts would turn their minds to the unique public safety risks that those charged with this type of offending might present. Former Bill C-48 also strengthened the intimate partner violence reverse onus. The bill expanded the reverse onus to also apply to anyone who had been previously discharged, and not just those convicted, of an offence involving intimate partner violence.

Before moving on to what the government has committed to doing, I want to address another area of criminal law that generates significant commentary: conditional sentence orders, or CSOs. A CSO is a sentence that allows an offender to serve a term of imprisonment in the community under certain conditions. They are only available when the sentence is less than two years and when the court determines that it does not pose a risk to public safety or conflict with sentencing principles. CSOs cannot be imposed for offences that involve mandatory minimums, terrorism, criminal organization offences with indictable minimums of 10 years or more, advocating genocide, torture or attempted murder.

The current CSO rules stem from former Bill C-5, which was presented in 2022. This bill strictly made mention that courts may only impose CSOs when consistent with community safety and sentencing principles. CSOs must remain proportionate to the gravity of the offence and the offender's responsibility, and provide adequate denunciation and deterrent. The government has heard concerns that CSOs have been increasingly used for sexual offences in some lower courts. Even though appellate courts hold that they rarely represent proportionate sentences, our government continues to monitor the impacts of former Bill C-5 and will consider further refinements to ensure community safety and public confidence.

As crime evolves, so must our laws. This is why the Minister of Justice will be advancing additional bail and sentencing reforms this fall.

I would now like to turn to an aspect of our bail system that often gets overlooked, and that is the matter of shared responsibility between federal and provincial and territorial governments. While federal legislation sets the laws governing bail, the effectiveness of our bail system depends largely on how it is administered. Provinces are responsible for appointing provincial judges and judges who conduct most bail hearings, who are in some provinces are called justices of the peace; overseeing the operation of police services, which are responsible for supervising individuals who are released on bail; and enforcing any conditions of release.

Provincial investments in community-based supports and supervision programs to reduce the risk of reoffending at the bail stage are also critical to ensuring that our bail system works as intended. Provinces and territories also hold the key to improving our understanding of bail outcomes. Right now, the provinces do not keep the bail data needed to ascertain whether our bail system is failing. Provincial leadership in improving data collection, and reporting is necessary to ensure effective evidence-based law reform at the federal level. It is an issue that I have brought up with every provincial representative I have met. Bail data will be crucial in understanding the fight against the cracks in our bail system.

In my speech so far, I have addressed several areas where reverse onuses have been imposed, such as cases involving firearm-related offences. We have yet to know whether that has had a positive impact or not. I fear, as we continue to make other reforms, that perhaps we may not understand fully whether they are having the impact Parliament intends.

Further to that, the provinces administer the bail courts. Earlier this year, Brampton mayor Patrick Brown, on behalf of Ontario's Big City Mayors, wrote a letter to the Province of Ontario sounding the alarm on cases being withdrawn, discharged or dismissed. It was almost over 50% of cases. This is shocking.

Highlighting the need for more Crown attorneys to try these cases more quickly, more judges to hear them and more spaces in jails to put criminals away is crucial. Comprehensive criminal justice reform must include all levels of government coming to the table and doing their part. We are ready to do our part and to work with the provinces and territories that are ready to do theirs.

The changes I mentioned will help with our immediate issues, but if we are serious about reducing crime and seeing improvements of public safety, we must look beyond our criminal law system as well. Public safety begins with prevention. It requires supporting our youth, investing in communities and addressing the social conditions, including poverty, addiction, mental health and housing. Bail reform is but one piece of the complex puzzle. Lasting change requires a broader commitment to equity, opportunity and support.

All orders of government must work together to build an effective justice system that distinguishes between those who pose a genuine risk and those who can be safely managed in the community. People in Canada deserve a justice system that protects them all. They deserve laws that are clear, consistent and effective. They also deserve a justice system that works and that is firm but fair. They also deserve a government that listens, responds and acts, and we will do exactly that.

I also want to make mention of the opposition finally showing a shred of common sense, though it is long overdue. In Bill C-242, which is mentioned in today's motion, the Conservatives quietly removed the reckless American-style, far right, three-strike scheme they ran on in the last election. Empty slogans based on sporting rules will not foster a robust criminal system and keep Canadians safe. Canadians deserve real solutions that are guided by working collaboratively with law enforcement, attorneys and other levels of government. That is exactly what our comprehensive bill would do.

I pause here to comment on the way this motion is drafted. It claims that the Liberal government promised to pass criminal justice reform six months ago but has failed to do so. That is strange. Just last week, we introduced Bill C-9, the combatting hate act, which includes targeted Criminal Code provisions to address hate crimes, which are on the rise. The bill passed second reading yesterday evening on a deferred division and is now heading to committee for further study.

Over the summer, the Minister of Justice has been hard at work studying ways to improve our laws by consulting closely with his provincial counterparts, law enforcement, police chiefs and police associations. Meanwhile, the Conservative leader was busy fighting for his own job and then parachuted into Alberta, after being catastrophically rejected by Canadians across the country and in his own former riding of Carleton. However, it seems he has not learned any lessons from that rejection. He continues to act recklessly, prioritizing political posturing over meaningful, evidence-based criminal justice reform.

Let us reject slogans and oversimplifications. Slogans such as “jail not bail” may sound tough, but they do not get us any closer to solving the problem. Real solutions require real work. They involve strengthening laws, improving enforcement, investing in data, devoting resources to addressing the root cause of crime and ultimately building a justice system that works for everyone.

Let us embrace real solutions that are evidence-based, collaborative and grounded in the values of fairness and accountability. That is the path forward. That is the commitment of the government. That is what Canadians deserve and expect.

[Arpan Khanna, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

moved:

That, given that,

(a) violent crime is up 55% under the Liberal government and repeat offenders continue to be released because of Liberal catch and release laws; and

(b) the Liberal government promised to pass criminal justice reform six months ago but has failed to do so;

in order to keep repeat offenders in jail and keep Canadians safe, the House is of the opinion that Bill C-242, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Department of Justice Act, also known as the Jail Not Bail Act, must pass and is committed to sitting extended hours, holding an expeditious committee study and undertaking such other procedural measures as may be necessary to pass it at the earliest opportunity.

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Brantford—Brant South—Six Nations.

It is always an honour to rise in the chamber to fight for law-abiding Canadians.

The results are in on the Liberals' bail reform experiment, and they failed. They failed our victims. Their policies have failed survivors and their families. They have failed Canadians

If we look at the news headlines that Canadians are waking up to every single day, we see that they are tragic; they are heartbreaking. Extortions are running wild in our community. In Surrey, B.C.; in Peel; and in Calgary, business owners are scared. They are not even picking up calls from unknown phone numbers. We hear stories of broad-daylight shootings, of murders, including of a 70-year-old grandmother who went out to buy groceries and was randomly stabbed and killed on the street. There are violent carjackings. There are home invasions. Home is the place where we are supposed to be the safest; it is supposed to be our castle where we can be in peace to raise our family and live life. Now those areas are being targeted by repeat violent offenders.

Crime is up thanks to the Liberals' failed policies. Thanks to bills like Bill C-75 and Bill C-5, they have allowed repeat violent offenders to terrorize our communities over and over again. It is thanks to their decisions and their policies.

The Liberals love to deny and to deflect, and to distract Canadians from their failed record, but they are responsible. In 2019 when they brought in Bill C-75, they codified the principle of restraint, which clearly says that judges, justices of the peace and police officers will release on the least restrictive conditions and at the earliest opportunity. That is a decision they made; they took that action and they presented it to Parliament. Conservatives voted against it then, and we are against the principle today.

Every single day that goes by, 1,600 violent crimes happen in our country. If we do the math, that is almost one Canadian per minute who falls victim to violent crime in Canada because of the Liberals' failure to act, and Canadians are scared; they are terrified. They are afraid to go on an evening walk in their neighbourhood. There are seniors in Oxford County who cannot even go to the bank without seeing security and without being nervous. That is not the Canada my parents came to. That is not the Canadian dream newcomers or folks who have been living here for generations love.

It is the Liberals' policies that have let Canadians down, and the ironic part is that they said, and the Prime Minister said in his campaign, that they were going to take decisive action and that they were going to be making changes to the Criminal Code right away. However, it has been six months, and we have not seen any legislation come forward.

The Liberals keep talking about some magical bill for bail reform. “It's coming”, they say. Well, they did bail reform, and they failed, so we do not need any more Liberal bail policies. We need to scrap Liberal bail. We need to invest in making sure our frontline officers have the tools they need. We need to make sure the Criminal Code is reflective of today's realities, which is why last week I tabled the proposed jail not bail act.

I did the homework for the Liberals about the jail not bail legislation. I know they are struggling to put something together. The bill came together from consultation and support from right across our country, from Whitehorse, Yukon, all the way to the east coast. I, along with my colleague, the member for Brantford—Brant South—Six Nations, and others from my Conservative team, have met with law enforcement and dozens of police unions. We have met with victim advocacy groups. I have met with the families of victims. I have sat at their tables and had conversations. They have cried because the situation is preventable. We did not have to be here today.

Our bill has feedback from Crown prosecutors and from defence lawyers, from the legal community. More importantly, thousands of Canadians are signing our petition demanding that the government finally wake up, end the madness and restore safe streets in our country again.

Our opposition day motion is important so we can pass Bill C-242, the jail not bail act, as soon as possible. We want the Liberals to get out of the way, stop blocking safe communities, stop delaying, stop denying, stop chasing photo ops and media headlines, and instead focus on fighting crime for Canadians. We have seen this not just in the big cities; crime is now coming to rural Canada. Businesses are being affected. There is an economic cost. Emotional, social and security costs are being added on.

No one has seen this level of crime before. That is why my jail not bail act would repeal the principle of restraint that the Liberals brought in. We would introduce a principle of public safety as the primary consideration for bail decisions. Let us put the rights of law-abiding Canadians first, not the criminals like the Liberals have been doing for the last number of years.

My bill would introduce a new major offences category that would include violent crimes like arson, extortion, home invasions, carjackings and assaults on peace officers and that would become grounds for a reverse onus on the criminals to get bail. We would bring in legislation to add clarity to the Criminal Code to give judges the clarity they need by making it mandatory for judges to look at the criminal history of an accused person, for all offences.

We would change and tighten risk assessment when it comes to granting bail on secondary grounds. We would add new measures as tertiary grounds. If someone who has a long rap sheet or has been charged with and convicted of an indictable offence over the last 10 years is released on bail and caught again, there should be no bail. We would tighten the conditions for bail.

Right now in Canada, a criminal who has been indicted for a major offence can be a surety, can vouch for other criminals. We have seen that. Please tell me about that. There are criminals vouching for other criminals. How does that make any sense? A surety is supposed to be somebody who could support another person to make sure they stay out of trouble, but when there are criminals vouching for criminals, that is a problem.

Our bill is not about being partisan. We are asking for members' support and for them to put their partisanship aside and think about Canadians. The bill is a common-sense piece of legislation. It would protect Canadians. It would ensure that repeat violent offenders stay behind bars, where they belong, and it would restore safe streets in our communities once again.

Public Safety

[Jacques Ramsay, Liberal, La Prairie—Atateken, QC]

Madam Speaker, let me be clear. The federal government is committed to introducing legislation to strengthen the bail system in order to combat violent and organized crime. If someone is released on bail and has nowhere to go, that is not a failure of federal law. It is a failure of those who administer the justice system, and that is a provincial responsibility. It also means that provinces and territories must invest in mental health and addiction supports as well as supervision programs to make bail conditions enforceable and meaningful.

With regard to the Conservative proposal of a “three strikes” law, I note that the member did not take responsibility for the Conservatives' about-face. That said, Canadians will sleep better tonight knowing that the Conservatives, who had promised this approach, ultimately reneged on it by not including it in their Bill C‑242—

[Jacques Ramsay, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to respond to the hon. member for Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, even though he is comparing apples to oranges. He is all over the map.

Let me begin by acknowledging the legitimate frustration many Canadians feel when they hear stories about repeat offenders being released on bail. These cases raise serious questions about the balance between public safety and individual rights, but we must be careful not to confuse symptoms with causes.

The example that was mentioned, of a homeless person released on bail with a curfew, does not demonstrate that a law was poorly drafted. Indeed, current law, as set out in the Criminal Code and confirmed by the Supreme Court, specifies that release conditions must be reasonable and appropriate. In this case, the court found that imposing a curfew on a homeless person was, at the very least, imprudent and unrealistic. When the law is clear, it is not up to Parliament to amend it; it is up to the courts to guide those who make the decisions on the ground.

To be clear, protecting the safety and security of Canadians demands collaboration from all levels of government. Our government is moving forward with ambitious reforms to the Criminal Code, but the provinces must also do their part. Too many of their courts and prisons are underfunded or overcrowded. The fact is, most bail determinations are made by justices of the peace, who are appointed by the provinces, not by Ottawa. Provincial prosecutors, who can and must challenge overly lenient decisions, are overwhelmed and under-resourced. Police and prosecutors need adequate support from the provinces to keep dangerous offenders behind bars.

At the federal level, our government has already taken action. In 2023, we introduced Bill C‑48 to tighten the rules for violent repeat offenders and those who use weapons, while strengthening protection for victims of intimate partner violence. These reforms were unanimously supported by every province and territory, including those with Conservative governments. That is federal leadership in action: bringing Canadians together and finding solutions that work.

We will do more. This fall, we will introduce legislation to make bail and sentencing rules even stricter, especially for organized crime, auto theft and human trafficking.

Unlike the opposition, we do not believe in empty slogans, like the “three strikes and you're out” rule. This rhetoric, aimed at scoring political points, solves nothing. It has failed everywhere it was put to the test in the United States. Even the Conservatives seem to have learned that lesson after losing the last election. In fact, despite campaigning on it, they did not even include the proposal in their bail legislation, Bill C‑242. I offer the member the opportunity to rise and clearly tell Canadians that he was wrong and that this proposal was in fact absurd.

Our Liberal government is committed to building a system that protects communities and addresses the causes of recidivism. For that, stronger laws are required. Investments in mental health, addiction treatment and community programs are also required. We will do our part, and we hope that the provinces will do theirs.