Evidence of meeting #140 for Public Safety and National Security in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was funding.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Pierre Paul-Hus
Mr. Blaney, you're out of time.
Mr. Blair, Mr. Blaney was the one who brought up the caravan.
Ms. Damoff, please go ahead.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister, for being here.
I want to go back to firearms. As you know, the opposition leader recently released his firearms policy. I was reading that the former RCMP commissioner, Bob Paulson, who was appointed under the previous government, has referred to the platform as, and I'm going to quote, “nonsense, nonsense and a little bit more nonsense.”
Recently Ms. Harder hosted a fundraiser in her riding that featured firearms, alcohol, and, in addition to two MPs, a young man who was under age.
I'd like to ask you, while the opposition is running Guns and Guinness fundraisers on firearms, if you could talk about the hard work you're doing around guns and gangs.
Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction
I'm not going to comment on the fundraisers. I understand the importance of firearms fundraising to certain parties. Having said that, I would only ask that it be done in a way that is sensitive to people who have been traumatized, who have lost loved ones, and to communities that live in fear. I'd ask that a certain sensitivity be shown to that.
I can also tell you that we're working very hard as a government. One of my responsibilities is to look at all the measures that the government can take, working with our partners and supporting those who are already engaged in this important work to make our communities safe. We know that we've seen a significant increase in the use of firearms in violent criminal offences. Some of that is gang-related. Some of it is family violence and intimate partner violence.
Liberal
Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction
It's about three-quarters. Seventy-five per cent of the people who die by a firearm die in a suicide.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
It's an issue that Dr. Alan Drummond has brought up with us: that we focus only on guns and gangs. That's a very important issue—don't get me wrong—but we ignore the 75% of firearm deaths that are actually people who die by suicide. I think that's an important number for all of us to remember.
Because I only have five minutes, I'm going to switch to cannabis. You did yeoman's work on that file prior to being a minister. I recently held an information session in my riding with Halton Regional Police Service and the Halton Region Health Department. The officer who did the information session on behalf of the police is a former drug enforcement officer who actually applauded the way the government has handled it and what we're doing.
I also went into a number of schools, where two grade 5 classes and one in high school were asking me about cannabis. I think that's a really good thing, because it's getting children at a younger age talking about cannabis use, and we can have those conversations to ensure they're not using it when they're young.
Something that came up in both the information session and at the schools was around the education we're doing, which you mentioned in your opening remarks. I wonder if you can elaborate a bit more on how important the education component is to the cannabis legislation we've introduced.
Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction
One of the things we found is that a criminal prohibition was not deterring our kids. We think information will be far more effective. It has to be information that's credible and comes from a credible source, and that's usually their peers, their teachers, their parents and their doctors.
We have been working really diligently to get information out so that young people know the risks that cannabis can present to them. There are significant health risks, but there were also very significant social risks.
I want to clarify this, because I often hear people questioning how this would work. Previous to October 17, if the police encountered a young person on the street using cannabis, they had two choices: they could do nothing or they could charge them criminally. The criminal charge has an enormous impact on that kid's whole life, so a lot of the police were choosing to do nothing.
Today, as a result of the implementation of the new regulations, in every part of this country the police can seize the drug, issue a ticket and administer a fine to take effective enforcement action. That's exactly what the police begged the government of the day in 2013 to make available to them; unfortunately, there was no will at the time. We've now given the police the tools to deal with those kids in a far more proportional way. It's going to create better outcomes for our kids, both to protect their health and to protect their social outcomes.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Pierre Paul-Hus
Thank you, Ms. Damoff.
It is now over to Ms. Harder for five minutes.
Rachael Harder Lethbridge, CPC
Thank you.
Minister, you and your PS recently attacked a fundraiser that was hosted in my event, which Pam Damoff just referred to. It was called “Guns and Guinness”. It was a group of responsible individuals who got together, did a clay shootout, and then drove 20 minutes away, after responsibly putting away their firearms, and had a barbecue. At this barbecue, there was alcohol.
Minister, my question is this. You commented in the House just recently and said this with regard to respecting individual autonomy and decision-making:
Before I was 25, I was married. I was the father of two kids by then. I owned a house. I had a mortgage. I was a cop. I carried a gun. I was entrusted with all the powers of a police officer, including the authority to restrict a person's liberty and to use force, perhaps even deadly force. I could buy a drink, and I could smoke a cigarette. That was how I was trusted....
Minister, in this statement, in one breath you associate maturity and therefore the ability to make autonomous decisions with drinking, using a gun and applying deadly force. Minister, to use your words, is it not irresponsible to associate those three things in one statement in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill?
Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction
Ms. Harder, congratulations. That's a remarkable stretch of credibility and logic in your thinking.
Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction
What I was talking about—
Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction
What I was talking about, frankly, was in response to a question—
Lethbridge, CPC
You're associating these three things with being mature, to make an autonomous decision.
Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction
What I was explaining was the authorities and responsibilities we give to adults and acknowledging that adults have these authorities. In fact, those were some of the authorities. It was quite frankly in response to a suggestion that was coming from someone else, who was suggesting that people at the age of 25—
Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction
—weren't able to make an adult decision for themselves.
Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction
I'm sorry? I was a police officer, madam. The only time I've ever carried a firearm was as a police officer.
Lethbridge, CPC
I think, Minister, you would agree with me, then, that if an individual lawfully owns a firearm and lawfully uses a firearm, they have the right to do so, correct? That would be a responsible thing to do, would it not?
Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction
I think it's important for everyone who lawfully possesses a firearm, first of all, to acquire it legally and have all the licences, permits and training that are required—
