Thank you very much.
I want to thank David, my colleague across the way, for his presentation. I also want to thank him for keeping it brief, because I think we have a lot of agreement on this legislation.
But I do want to note, and I think all of us are aware of this, that this legislation, or legislation very similar to this, was first introduced by the NDP's Chris Charlton, who did a lot of work on this and is very passionate about this legislation. As we also know, her iteration of the bill included manslaughter as well. I just wanted to put that on the record.
Let me tell you that ending the ability of those who are convicted of murdering their spouse or parent to collect survivor benefits is something that we as New Democrats feel very strongly about and will very, very strongly support. That is why we had legislation calling for this change over three years ago. To us it is completely unacceptable that someone who is convicted of the murder or manslaughter of their spouse can profit in any way from that crime.
It actually doesn't even pass the “nod” test that we have out in our communities. I've actually had an opportunity to talk to a few people in my riding, where we've had a few heinous—I would say that's the only way to describe it—murders of women. In one of them, not only was she murdered but her remains were burned. It took quite a while, and at the end of it all it was the husband. I do remember that being the big topic of conversation, that he was going to now get benefits as a result of that.
The integrity of the Canada Pension Plan is enormously important to Canadians. We all know that. The very thought that someone convicted of spousal homicide, manslaughter, could derive a monetary benefit from such a heinous crime speaks to an issue of fundamental justice. There should be no reward, monetary or otherwise, for committing such crimes, absolutely none.
You as a sitting government have had the opportunity to introduce legislative changes at any time, so it is concerning for me—I have to put this on the record, particularly for those who are directly affected—that the Conservatives did not prioritize this issue and make these changes sooner. You knew you had our support. This isn't one of those where there was going to be a lot of opposition from people. My only regret is that I wish we had dealt with this three years ago, two years ago, so that we weren't having this conversation today.
First, Mr. Van Kesteren, why didn't the Conservatives prioritize this legislation? Why wasn't it included on your legislative agenda?
By the way, I'm not encouraging this, but I know how fond your government has been of omnibus bills that have many, many things in them that you love. Why, after three years from when this bill was first introduced by Chris Charlton, has it taken this long?