Evidence of meeting #17 for Justice and Human Rights in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was c-14.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

Members speaking

Before the committee

Dyas  Mayor, City of Kelowna
Veresuk  Executive Director, Regina Downtown Business Improvement District
Campbell  President, Toronto Police Association
Poirier  Vice-President, Federal Government Relations, Retail Council of Canada
MacKinnon  Chairperson, International Downtown Association Canada
Taylor  Senior General Counsel and Director General, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice
Grbac  Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice
Burt  Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice
Reynolds  Acting Senior Counsel, Youth Criminal Justice Division, Department of Justice

The Chair Liberal James Maloney

I'm asking what the effect of your motion is, Mr. Lawton. It's a very simple question.

6:15 p.m.

Conservative

Andrew Lawton Conservative Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON

That would be the effect, but I say that with reluctance because I would love to hear from the witnesses.

The Chair Liberal James Maloney

I'm asking just so we're clear, so that people know what they're about to vote on.

6:15 p.m.

Conservative

Andrew Lawton Conservative Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON

Yes, but I would prefer to hear from the witnesses.

The Chair Liberal James Maloney

You motion is that we don't hear from these two witnesses and that we move immediately clause-by-clause on C-14.

6:15 p.m.

Conservative

Andrew Lawton Conservative Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON

Chair, you are being very playful with your words, and I think it's to serve a political purpose, with respect.

The Chair Liberal James Maloney

Mr. Lawton, do not challenge my motives or my integrity ever again, please.

6:15 p.m.

Conservative

Andrew Lawton Conservative Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON

You are trying to inject a motive in my motion.

The Chair Liberal James Maloney

I'm asking for clarification of your motion so that everybody is clear on what they're voting on.

6:15 p.m.

Conservative

Andrew Lawton Conservative Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON

With reluctance, given your previous ruling, I move to proceed to clause-by-clause consideration, which would require ending witness testimony on C-14.

The Chair Liberal James Maloney

Thank you. That was a very easy way to get to that point, Mr. Lawton.

Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC

Mr. Chair, can we suspend for a couple of minutes?

The Chair Liberal James Maloney

Yes.

The meeting is suspended.

The Chair Liberal James Maloney

I call this meeting back to order.

When we suspended, we had just finished clarifying Mr. Lawton's motion. Upon reviewing it, my ruling is that it is not receivable, so we're back to Ms. Lattanzio's subamendment.

Larry Brock Conservative Brantford—Brant South—Six Nations, ON

I challenge the chair's ruling.

The Chair Liberal James Maloney

That's your right.

(Ruling of the chair sustained: yeas 5; nays 4)

The Chair Liberal James Maloney

We're back to Ms. Lattanzio's subamendment.

6:35 p.m.

Conservative

Andrew Lawton Conservative Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON

On a point of order, is it not an amendment from Ms. Lattanzio?

The Chair Liberal James Maloney

I'm sorry. What did I say?

6:35 p.m.

Conservative

Andrew Lawton Conservative Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON

You said subamendment.

6:35 p.m.

Conservative

Larry Brock Conservative Brantford—Brant South—Six Nations, ON

It is a subamendment.

6:35 p.m.

Conservative

Andrew Lawton Conservative Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON

No. It's an amendment.

The Chair Liberal James Maloney

We're back to Ms. Lattanzio's amendment to Mr. Brock's motion. We voted on Mr. Lawton's amendment and now we're back on Ms. Lattanzio's amendment.

Mr. Gill, I believe you have the floor.

6:35 p.m.

Conservative

Amarjeet Gill Conservative Brampton West, ON

Thank you, Chair.

First of all, it is important that we get to work on fixing the Liberal broken bail system. We are here to address Bill C-14, and the panellists are also here. We must listen to them as well. It is very important, in my opinion. We are here to offer collaboration and co-operation.

We heard from business owners, local politicians and law enforcement that the bail system is broken. It's an issue critical to the safety of our communities. Canadians have been clear that they want us, as parliamentarians, to work together to fix the bail system.

The Liberals have created a system that sees our streets flooded with repeat offenders released on bail hours after their arrest, only to reoffend. I have been hearing from my constituents that they are scared. They are worried about their safety. They are begging us here in Ottawa to make their streets safe and to ensure that repeat offenders are behind bars, not out on the street or out on bail.

We should go to clause-by-clause on Bill C-14 and address all those things that matter most to Canadians, especially those in my riding of Brampton West. While we on the Conservative side of the House believe that Bill C-14 is also flawed, we agree that it is an improvement over the current catch-and-release system of Bill C-75. That is why we want the committee to move on this important bill, as our constituents are asking us to do.

I will suggest that we must proceed to clause-by-clause. This is a very important bill, and that's why we are here today. This is an important matter that we are discussing. As soon as we complete, Bill C-14, we can send it to third reading and then it can go to the Senate, and communities will feel some confidence at least.

I strongly suggest that we should go on to clause-by-clause.

Thank you.

The Chair Liberal James Maloney

Thank you, Mr. Gill.

I see Mr. Lawton, Ms. Lattanzio and Mr. Brock.