Evidence of meeting #120 for National Defence in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was infractions.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Stephen Fuhr
Moving along, I have no notice of amendment for anything between clauses 43 and 60.
(Clauses 43 to 60 inclusive agreed to on division)
(On clause 61)
On clause 61, I see a Liberal amendment. Who would like to speak to LIB-9?
Liberal
Darren Fisher Liberal Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS
I'll move this, Mr. Chair.
It's another one of these meaty amendments. It says:
That Bill C-77, in clause 61, be amended by replacing, in the French version, line 1 on page 57 with the following:
"incarcéré dans un pénitencier ou une prison civile, au sens"
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Stephen Fuhr
Is there any discussion?
(Amendment agreed to on division)
(Clause 61 as amended agreed to on division)
(Clause 62 agreed to on division)
(On clause 63)
We have LIB-10.
Mr. Spengemann, go ahead.
Liberal
Sven Spengemann Liberal Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON
The amendment reads:
That Bill C-77, in Clause 63, be amended by replacing, in the English version, line 14 on page 70 with the following:
“(1.2) The court martial or the Court Martial Ap-”
What it essentially does is remove the excess word “tribunal” from the English text. That's proposed subsection 215(1.2) of the National Defence Act. This section refers to courts martial, and therefore the word “tribunal” is superfluous.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Stephen Fuhr
Is there any discussion?
(Amendment agreed to on division)
CPC-9 was dealt with in a previous ruling.
(Clause 63 as amended agreed to on division)
(Clause 64 agreed to on division)
(On clause 65)
On clause 65, we have LIB-11.
Mr. Fisher, go ahead.
Liberal
Darren Fisher Liberal Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS
The amendment reads:
That Bill C-77, in Clause 65, be amended by replacing, in the French version, line 16 on page 81 with the following:
"(15) Si l'article 59 de la première loi entre"
Conservative
Conservative
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Yes. I think you missed one word. We better get it on the record.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Stephen Fuhr
Is there any further discussion?
(Amendment agreed to on division)
(Clause 65 as amended agreed to on division)
On clauses 66 through 68, I don't see an amendment request.
(Clauses 66 to 68 inclusive agreed to on division)
Shall the title carry?
Liberal
NDP
Randall Garrison NDP Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, BC
We can have a discussion on this at this point. Is that right?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Stephen Fuhr
Yes. We're talking about whether the bill shall carry as amended.
Go ahead.
NDP
Randall Garrison NDP Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I believe that Bill C-77 does important things in reforming the military justice system, especially as it improves victims' rights within that system, despite my disappointment that a couple of things, I think, were incorrectly ruled out of order. I will take those up at report stage in the House. In particular, on the urgent matter of removing all obstacles for those who may be considering self-harm to get care, I believe the amendment I moved is germane to that. I believe it's germane to the larger reforms of the military justice system that we've undertaken.
I'm also disappointed that Mr. Bezan's amendment, to try to make absolutely sure that people do not get criminal records as a result of infractions, was ruled out of order. I understand the technical arguments that we've heard, but I think it should have been considered by the committee and not ruled out of order.
Despite my disappointment on those two rulings, I still think this bill is an important reform of the military justice system. I will be voting in favour of the bill.
Conservative
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Again, the majority of Bill C-77 reflects what we did in Bill C-71. Protecting victims' rights is something we support. I agree with Mr. Garrison. We had a chance to help with the destigmatization of mental health, especially around suicide and self-harm, by taking that out of the National Defence Act.
I do hope that the members from JAG here are listening to the concerns we've raised about the criminal records aspect and how these things can come back to bite our troops as they become veterans and want to participate in their communities as volunteers, as well as seek future employment. I hope that as you draft the new QR&O, that is well taken into consideration.
I will be supporting Mr. Garrison as he brings forward his amendments at report stage. Hopefully, we'll have a better hearing with the Speaker than we received at committee.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Stephen Fuhr
As we've been together for three years, I know that the committee is very sensitive to NDP-1, and certainly open to discussing CPC-7, CPC-8 and CPC-9. There's a time and a place to do that. I guess we'll have an opportunity. If not, we can discuss it and bring it from the committee using other opportunities.
Shall the bill as amended carry?
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Stephen Fuhr
Shall the committee order a reprint of the bill as amended for the use of the House at report stage?