Public Safety Committee on May 11th, 2023

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Mr. Shipley or Mr. Perkins. Would somebody like to move this motion?

[Doug Shipley, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

I'll move the motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Do you wish to speak to the motion as you move it?

[Doug Shipley, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

No, but I'd like to read it out, if I could, please.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Go ahead.

[Doug Shipley, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

It's that Bill C-21, in clause 34, be amended by replacing line 30 on page 22 with the following:

have collected or received from a member of the immediate family of the holder of a licence or a person who resides with the holder, or an organization authorized to submit an application on their behalf, a peace officer or a medical professional, that the hold‐

That's it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you.

Is there anything further?

[Doug Shipley, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

Yes, just briefly, we would like to narrow the use of “any person” to immediate family and medical professionals in this amendment.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you.

Mr. Julian, we'll start you over.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

I'll just say that I agree with the intent of CPC-19. I believe that NDP-4 is better. I'll be voting against CPC-19, not because I have anything against my Conservative colleagues but because I feel that NDP-4 is stronger and more effective in this clause.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you.

Ms. Damoff, please.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

I agree with my NDP colleague.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Ms. Michaud, you have the floor.

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

I think some of my colleagues are proposing to strengthen these tools in other amendments that will follow. Unfortunately, it seems to me that this amendment weakens the measure. I will therefore be voting against it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you.

Is there any further discussion on this amendment?

Mr. Shipley.

[Doug Shipley, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

I have one quick question. Maybe the officials could tell me what the definition of “any person” would encompass.

[Rachel Mainville-Dale]

I think I would use the ordinary dictionary sense of “any person”.

[Doug Shipley, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

Okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Seeing no further discussion, I shall call the vote on CPC-19.

(Amendment negatived: nays 7; yeas 4)

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you. The amendment is defeated.

I will now go to NDP-4.

Mr. Julian, if you please.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

On NDP-4, you'll recall that this is recommended by both Doctors for Protection from Guns and the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians. Both believe this measure would be appropriate. They feel they need to have protection under the law not to be found in violation of doctor-patient confidentiality, so this particular amendment would ensure that doctors can report when a person may be a danger to themselves or others.

It is in the same framing as Mr. Ruff's amendment that we adopted earlier, which was an excellent amendment. What we're doing is just providing additional supports and protection. I think that is something we can all get behind.

What it would do is replace line 30 on page 22 in the clause with the following statement:

have collected or received from any person, including a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a nurse, a nurse practitioner or a medical practitioner, that the hold-

Then it continues as listed in the clause.

Hopefully, we'll have a consensus around this, as we have through most of this exercise. This is an important additional level of protection for people, and it goes in the same sense as Mr. Ruff's amendment.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Mr. Julian.

We'll go to Mr. Shipley and then to Madame Michaud.

[Doug Shipley, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

Thank you, chair.

While I appreciate what took place earlier with Mr. Ruff's amendment, and I think that was a good amendment, I'm feeling that in this NDP-4, the term “any person” is a little vague, so I won't be able to support this amendment.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Mr. Shipley.

Ms. Michaud, you have the floor.

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I am genuinely wondering about the need for the proposed addition. To my mind, "a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a nurse, a nurse practitioner or a medical practitioner" are persons, so this addition is already included when it talks about any person. It does not give them more power.

I see the intent behind this amendment, but does it give these people more authority? Not really, as I understand it.