Public Safety Committee on Nov. 25th, 2020

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

I greatly appreciate the.... I'm asking what conditions were placed.

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Yes, and I'm—

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

It's not examples. What were the conditions?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

There were a number of family members of Canadian Armed Forces members—

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Excuse me, Minister.

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Yes, sir.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Excuse me, Mr. Kurek.

I am getting some real noise in the background here, and I don't know where it's coming from. I look at the screen and everybody seems to be on mute. I'm assuming it's in the room itself.

I don't hear it now, but there was noise there.

Let's continue. You had about a minute and a half to answer the question. With that, Minister, restart your answer to the question. I apologize for the interruption.

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

The one case was in the province of Nova Scotia, and it was for the soldier's family to be able to attend her funeral. The second case was at the request of the Alberta government. There was a sexual assault victim who was required to attend in person at trial and had to travel in from the United States in order to do so; otherwise, the province was going to lose jurisdiction and her attacker would be freed.

In those cases, we worked very closely with the Public Health Agency of Canada, the provincial public health authority and the regional health authority to ensure that appropriate measures were put in place for all the people in Nova Scotia attending the funeral and for the victim of that terrible crime to attend the trial and testify.

We provided support and accommodation to ensure they were able to isolate appropriately. They were also equipped with personal protection equipment and other support measures so that they could attend those two events, which in my opinion was absolutely necessary and right that we do.

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Thank you.

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

We worked with public health authorities to make sure that could be done safely, and at no time were the health and safety of Canadians compromised by those efforts.

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Thank you very much, Minister.

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Sure.

I appreciate the examples that were given, but it seems clear that there were no universal conditions. Conspicuously absent in your answers were rapid tests specifically. I think that speaks volumes about not necessarily the merits of those specific exemptions—I don't think anybody is questioning those—but the larger picture of the government response to some of these exemptions.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Sir, you have about 15 seconds.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Thank you, Mr. Kurek. Thank you, Minister.

Mr. Anandasangaree, you have five minutes, please.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge Park, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the panel for being here.

Thank you Minister. It's good to see you, as always.

I want to pick up from where Mr. Harris probably left off and acknowledge your commitments to addressing the issues of systemic racism within the different areas of the criminal justice system, including the RCMP.

Minister, one of the challenges I think we've faced is a lack of clarity from the RCMP and the commissioner in terms of where we're going with this. While legislative changes are an important element, the absence of a concrete plan by the RCMP leaves quite a few unanswered questions.

I'm wondering if we can get a commitment from Commissioner Lucki, as well as you, to having a constructive plan to address the systemic issues of racism and discrimination within the RCMP, as well as the timeline by which a plan can be tabled to this committee and a timeline to implement the said plan.

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

I thank you for a very important question, Gary.

Certainly you and I have spoken about a number of the things that the government can do in legislation, in regulation and in funding. However, I want to give the commissioner an opportunity to articulate many of the things that she has been doing in order to respond to this concern.

[Commr Brenda Lucki]

Thank you for that question.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge Park, ON]

Commissioner Lucki, if I may, before you start, I think what's important is a comprehensive plan.

Can you give us a timeline as opposed to...? We know publicly some of the things you've undertaken, but I'd like a comprehensive plan that the committee could study, the road map to address systemic issues.

[Commr Brenda Lucki]

Thank you for that question.

The plan started when I got into the chair with Vision 150, but in 2020 of course the context changed, so we added another 17 initiatives to advance equity, accountability and trust in the RCMP. They're grounded in ongoing stakeholder engagement and they support and build on Vision 150.

We have brought in forums to exchange information on diversity and inclusion with national and divisional committees. We have created guides. We have a mental health advisory group. We have a new equity, diversity and inclusion strategy that includes mandatory cultural awareness and humility training. As well, we're in the process of co-developing anti-racism training. The reason we're co-developing it is to give the people most impacted by this a say in how the training is rolled out and what is included in the training.

We're doing collection and analysis of race-based data to address systemic racism and discrimination, in collaboration with our partners, while we're supporting the rollout of body-worn cameras. We're strengthening timelines in the public complaint process through an MOU with CRCC—

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge Park, ON]

Commissioner Lucki, perhaps I can just interrupt you, because time is limited.

I know there is a lot of interest in this. While I recognize that those are important initial steps, I'm still a little lost as to how all of this is going to lead to a comprehensive plan that will address the issues of systemic racism within the RCMP.

I think we're at a stage right now where the 17 points you have outlined are, I'm going to suggest, first steps. What are we going to do about the culture, about the lack of accountability and about a whole host of issues that I think are alive today?

I'm wondering if you're able or in a position to commit today to table within, say, the next four to six weeks a comprehensive plan to address systemic racism within the RCMP.

[Commr Brenda Lucki]

All the initiatives are on our outside website for anybody to see. There are measures—

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge Park, ON]

With great respect, Commissioner, I think that's inadequate. I respectfully ask you to look at this much more deeply and to come back with a plan, because I think since our initial conversation back in the summer, we have had this discussion a number of times and, at almost six months in, I don't think we have a road map or a plan.

Can we expect a comprehensive plan from you, apart from what's on the website, to address systemic racism within the next several weeks?

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Be very brief, please.

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Gary, if I may respond to that, I'm aware that the SECU committee is actually doing its own study, and I think the work of parliamentarians in this regard is really important and will inform the government and the RCMP in appropriate steps forward.

We also indicated in the throne speech our intention to bring about significant reform in every element of the criminal justice system. I know the Attorney General and I have had a number of conversations in this regard. The work is important, but it must be comprehensive.

I'm not entirely sure that the timelines you prescribe are appropriate for an undertaking of this importance, but I want to assure you and this committee of our absolute and unwavering commitment to do that work and to be informed by the important work that the SECU committee is doing.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Mr. Anandasangaree.