Justice Committee on March 6th, 2014

[Bob Dechert, Conservative, Mississauga—Erindale, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Minister.

I certainly hear from my constituents that there is a concern amongst many of them about the justice system being something they can trust to make sure that the sentences fit the crimes perpetrated. It's my view that the provisions you brought forward will help restore some of their faith in the system.

Could you tell us what you think might be the reason that child sex crimes seem to be going up in Canada?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Central Nova, NS]

That is a very difficult question to answer, Mr. Dechert, because I can't imagine any world where this type of offence could be seen as the slightest bit appropriate. Touching a child, touching an innocent person who in many cases is relying on the very person, the perpetrator, for protection is the ultimate breach of trust. We have seen far too many of these cases where it was a family member, a coach, a religious person, an individual who had greater access to that child. Why we are seeing an increase in these offences defies logic.

But what I do know is that I suspect you and others on this committee, and certainly those in the policing community, those who are victims' advocates, those who are tasked to protect, fully embrace all efforts to increase our protection of children, to increase the accountability within the justice system when it comes to the treatment of offenders who breach that trust. I believe that is found in Bill C-26.

I believe there are important steps in that direction. Is there more we can do? Yes, I believe there is always more that we can do, and some of that important work is being done thankfully across the country by child advocacy workers and victim services. Certainly police, front-line policing, is far more attuned. I think of the incredible work that is done by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

We can touch on the subject of how much more information and offensive information, quite frankly, is now available on the Internet. The ability to lure children into certain vulnerable positions is also something we're looking at and is contained in the cyberbullying bill.

But I think it's incumbent upon all of us to try to do more to protect Canadian children.

[The Chair, Conservative, Mike Wallace]

Thank you, Minister.

Madam Péclet, the floor is yours.

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. You raised some points regarding part XVII of the Criminal Code. I would like explore this in greater detail, given that we are currently examining the application of part XVII of the Criminal Code.

My question has two parts. First of all, when the bill passed a few years ago, the Senate committee had recommended broadening the scope of part XVII of the Criminal Code and applying it to parole hearings. It also recommended that judges be required to give an accused a notice of the possibility that he or she would have to stand trial in either of Canada's two official languages.

I would like to hear what you think of those recommendations. Do you think it would be a good idea to implement them immediately in order to improve access to justice in both official languages? You talked about a number of problems regarding resources related to judges and translation, which is understandable.

The second part of my question has to do with the supplementary estimates (C), specifically the $3.6 million to promote official languages and access to justice.

Considering the $3.6 million and Roadmap 2013-18, what does the government intend to do to improve the application of part XVII of the Criminal Code and therefore improve access to justice in both official languages?

[The Chair, Conservative, Mike Wallace]

Mr. Minister, you have the floor.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Central Nova, NS]

I certainly hope so, and let me say first that I look forward to receiving the report on the important work that's been undertaken by this committee on part XVII. I know you're doing a very in-depth study. You mentioned the $3.6 million annually that is part of the road map for Canada's official languages. That money, as you know, is very much to address the issues that you're mentioning, to improve access, to ensure that those who find themselves before the court for a variety of reasons will be able to receive service in both official languages or in the language of their choice. This is in addition to ongoing resources of $9.9 million, which is there annually to help provinces. Again, I come back to Madame Boivin's earlier question about what we are doing at the provincial level to help ensure that judges in the provincial court are given necessary support in addition to extrajudicial services, so for court services for prothonotaries, for property-related searches, or for anything related to federal contraventions prosecuted under their respective provincial offences. Again, the federal government bears responsibility in that regard.

I want to give you just a couple of examples of investments that I believe are working and achieving the ends that we all seek. The Provincial Court of New Brunswick has a linguistic training program for provincially nominated judges. The federal government contributes to this project to help complete French legal terminology language training, which is another important nuance here, because, as we know, there is language associated with law that is not often found in common parlance in English or French.

For l'Association des juristes d'expression française de l'Ontario, there is a fund, a contribution of over $170,000 specific to the Province of Ontario to help with French language minority communities. These programs and many others that I could list, which are happening in the territories, in British Columbia, and right across the country, are federal contributions through which we're partnering with provincial and territorial governments and their departments of justice or attorneys general to help further their language requirements. This will, obviously, take time. This will obviously require sustained effort and investment.

I might add that particularly in the north, where there are other languages and a significant number of aboriginal languages and first nations languages, we're also trying to help provide resources for translation and training, and, I might add as a final point, for those who are signing for the deaf.

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

What about the first part of my question about the...?

[The Chair, Conservative, Mike Wallace]

Thank you very much for your question. I did allow the minister to finish the answer.

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

He will be back.

[The Chair, Conservative, Mike Wallace]

The bells are ringing, so the process for me is to call the meeting.

I want to thank the minister and his officials for coming. As you know, the bells are about half an hour and then it will be about 10 to one or five to one, so I'm not coming back.

But, we do expect the minister and his staff to come back for the main estimates. We look forward to that and then to the introduction of any bills that actually get through the House and come to us.

Thank you very much for your time.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Central Nova, NS]

I look forward to it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Mike Wallace]

The meeting is adjourned.