Public Safety Committee on June 19th, 2025

[Jacques Ramsay, Liberal, La Prairie—Atateken, QC]

I have a point of order.

I call for a vote on the motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

I think we have to let members continue the debate, Mr. Ramsay.

I invite Mr. Lloyd to do just that.

[Dane Lloyd, Conservative, Parkland, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I hope this can be an educational experience for all members of this committee on how the process works. Thank you for that.

It's an issue across this country. Alberta also has issues with organized crime using stolen vehicles—as we've seen across the country—to fund illicit activities in other areas, such as human trafficking, drugs and firearms. This is a serious issue. We've even seen reports that these stolen vehicles are being used to fund international terrorism, so it's obviously a very....

I had my vehicle stolen out of my driveway. I had a vehicle that was attempted to be stolen from my driveway. It's devastating when you don't feel safe in your own community and in your own home. It's a threat that all families are seeing.

We have a cost of living crisis. Everything's going up in price, and one key thing that's going up in price is people's insurance premiums. It really hurts when your insurance premiums go up. Recently, people who have renewed their insurance on vehicles that are considered a high risk of theft are having to pay additional premiums because of the type of vehicle they drive. This is a cost of living issue as well as a crime issue.

I don't think this really needs to go on. I think this is a common-sense move to get a report that was agreed on by all parties prior to the last election. I'd really like to see the government provide a response to it.

I thank the chair for the time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

What we'll do now is hear from Madame DeBellefeuille, and then we'll suspend the meeting for a little while to make sure that we all have the same understanding of what is being requested.

Madame DeBellefeuille.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry—Soulanges—Huntingdon, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I, too, support the motion. Those of you who are new to the committee should know that the auto theft study was proposed by the member for Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, Kristina Michaud, a former Bloc Québécois MP. We initiated the study by the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. The auto theft problem in Montreal and everything going on at the port of Montreal are indeed concerning. The auto theft problem in Quebec has been documented. The study took a lot of time.

I think the motion recognizes the work that the Bloc Québécois started and carried out. For that reason, I am in favour of adopting the motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

Very good.

I will again suspend the meeting for a few minutes to make sure that everyone, including new committee members, are clear on what's being proposed. I will let you know when it's time to resume.

The meeting is suspended for a few minutes to make sure that everyone knows exactly what is being proposed and to get a better sense of what the next steps should be.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

We are back.

This is a reminder that, in order for a committee to work well, everyone needs to have the same information. A few moments ago, I told the clerk that I wasn't comfortable with the idea of the committee discussing information that everyone does not have.

A motion is a tool to debate, but when we don't have both a shared understanding of the motion and a shared statement of the motion, it becomes very difficult for members of this committee to have an intelligent debate.

This is the first meeting, so we're all in a learning process and, certainly, in a very collaborative process. I think in the spirit of collaboration, we may be doing things now that may be exploratory. It's in fact a good exercise for me, as the new chair of this committee, to learn how we will work effectively starting in the fall. It cannot be, in my mind, effective and useful for the members of this committee to speak of matters that have not been distributed prior to the meeting. If there is a will to discuss motions, these motions should have been distributed sufficiently well in advance, or at least distributed in a manner that everyone understands and can speak to.

Having said that, MP Kirkland wanted to intervene. MP Ramsay also wanted to speak. Then we'll turn to MP Lloyd.

Let's start with MP Kirkland.

[Rhonda Kirkland, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

I want to speak to this motion because of my community and concerns with auto theft and what that means for safety. It's not just the theft of our vehicles. It's the safety of our persons as well. To very quickly give you some background, in the first nine months of 2024, Oshawa reported 223 auto thefts. That is alarming. The Durham region has seen a concerning trend of rising auto thefts, with a 205% increase since 2019.

I'm a single mom, and I have a daughter who's about to turn 15. She'll be driving before long. I have some concerns for her safety. Auto thefts are escalating, and they're escalating to the point where now, instead of people just going to your driveway to steal your car, they're much more brazen. They're perhaps hijacking and doing all sorts of things like that. It's because of this concern that I don't even feel comfortable sending my daughter out to the car to get something that I've left in there.

I think the study is important, and I think doing it now is wise. I just wanted to speak to that motion.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

Thank you.

Mr. Ramsay, go ahead.

[Jacques Ramsay, Liberal, La Prairie—Atateken, QC]

I completely agree with what Mr. Lloyd, Mr. Caputo and Ms. Kirkland said. Auto theft is a concern for everyone in Canada, as Mrs. DeBellefeuille mentioned. It is a priority for our government. That is what I wanted to say. We agree with Mr. Caputo's motion, so I would ask for a vote.

However, as you pointed out, I do want to remind everyone of the procedure for motions. Notice needs to be given 48 hours in advance, in French, to make sure that everyone can take part in the debate and that the French version isn't thrown together in a hurry. I hope that everyone will respect our procedure going forward, but in the spirit of co-operation today, we will accept and support the motion. We fully agree with the motion that was put forward, so we can proceed to the vote.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay.

We will now go to Ms. Kirkland and then Mr. Au.

Then I propose that we vote on the motion and see what the outcome is.

[Rhonda Kirkland, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

Chair, I already spoke to that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

Yes. I forgot about you. I'm confused, obviously.

I think MP Lloyd wanted to intervene first, and then we'll have MP Au and MP DeBellefeuille. We'll then see whether we can vote.

[Dane Lloyd, Conservative, Parkland, AB]

I cede the floor.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

Okay.

Go ahead, MP Au.

[Chak Au, Conservative, Richmond Centre—Marpole, BC]

I fully agree that we have to discuss this very important issue. Not only is it important, but there's a sense of urgency.

I come from Richmond, B.C., and I want to point out that in 2023, we had 7,500 vehicles stolen across the province. What's more concerning than the number of thefts is the number of recoveries. The number of recoveries from 2024 actually dropped to 77% from the previous year, which was 85%. The concern is that vehicles are being stolen and are not being recovered. In most cases, those vehicles were sent overseas.

We have to be mindful that this is not a petty crime, because we know that these kinds of vehicle thefts are related to more serious criminal activities, such as smuggling and other kinds of violent crime. Sometimes, people have the sense that this is only a petty crime and people are being covered by insurance. However, these kinds of crimes affect every family and every small business. Families are losing their means of transportation. Small businesses are also losing their means of transportation. More importantly, their insurance goes up. It affects everybody.

It's not a petty crime, and we need to address it with tougher laws, more actions and better enforcement. That's why I'm saying we cannot wait for the summer and we have to deal with this as soon as possible.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

That's great.

Over to you, Mrs. DeBellefeuille.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry—Soulanges—Huntingdon, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to check something with the analyst.

As I recall, in the last Parliament, the committee's report was tabled in the House on December 16. In the report, we didn't necessarily ask the government to provide a response.

Is that correct?

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

Mrs. DeBellefeuille, we will check when the report was tabled and whether a response—

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry—Soulanges—Huntingdon, QC]

If memory serves me correctly, it was tabled on December 12.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

—was requested, which it normally is. Nevertheless, we will check.

Mr. Ramsay, you wanted to say something. Please go ahead.

[Jacques Ramsay, Liberal, La Prairie—Atateken, QC]

I just wanted to say that I totally share Mr. Au's concerns, Mr. Chair. That is precisely what the strong borders act seeks to address.

I would remind him that provisions in the act would make it possible for the Canada Border Services Agency to hire a thousand more people. The agency would also have greater inspection powers to deal not only with imports, but also with exports, which means it could recover more vehicles.

I therefore encourage the member to support the strong borders act.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

To answer your question, Mrs. DeBellefeuille, I can tell you that the report was tabled on December 16, and a government response was requested.

Since there seems to be a consensus, unanimous agreement even, on whether to adopt the motion, I think we should proceed to the vote.

Would someone like to call for a vote?

[An hon. member]

Yes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

We will go to the vote.

Because I'm not perfectly familiar with how we vote, go ahead, Mr. Clerk.