moved that Bill C-343, an act to amend the Criminal Code (arrest without warrant), be read the second time and referred to a committee.
Mr. Speaker, Bill C-343 which I am happy to address today is not a lengthy bill. I do not believe it will require a lot of debate. I would like to read the actual amendment:
Subsection 495(1) of the Criminal Code is amended by adding the following immediately after paragraph (c):
(d) a person who has committed the offence described in subsection 740(1) or who on reasonable grounds, the peace officer believes has committed or is about to commit the offence.
The purpose of this bill is to give the police or a peace officer the power to arrest without a warrant a person who is in breach of a probation order binding the person.
This is not an idea that was dreamed up out of the blue. It came to me from talking with a number of police officers during many of the ride-alongs I had with various police units throughout the country including Calgary and particularly Toronto. The officers had mentioned to me on a number of occasions that if they had the power and authority to arrest individuals who were in breach of a probation order, it would be a good preventive measure to stop a lot of crimes.
Let me give a couple of examples. When I was riding in a Toronto police car a couple of officers identified a young offender who walked by on the street at two o'clock in the morning. They named him and said he was a young offender who was on probation for dealing drugs. He was not even supposed to be on the streets past six o'clock in the evening.
I asked what they would be able to do. They said that they would take the name and report to the probation unit that this individual was in breach of probation. However, they had no authority to do anything. A young fellow who had been convicted of drug dealing being out at two o'clock in the morning probably meant that something was not right. It is the belief of those officers, and they have a number of cases they can name, that had they had the authority and the ability to take the person into custody for breach of probation that the crime, which was committed later in the evening by the individual, would have been prevented.
Another example. An individual, because of an alcohol problem, was on probation for either a domestic dispute or for committing crimes while under the influence. Whether there has been a court order or this individual is under probation, the individual is not allowed to enter a bar or a drinking establishment. This is part of the probation order. Police have told me that a number of times they see such individuals breaking their probation orders by either being seen consuming alcohol or going into places where they were directed not to go.
All the police can do is report to a probation officer which may take as much as one or two weeks because of the lack of manpower. Had they been able to just arrest the individual on breach of probation, summary conviction, that it would have prevented problems later in the evening.
A number of other times in one particular area there had been young offenders arrested on 52 counts of break and enter. These are young offenders who are required to attend school, are required to be at home by six o'clock in the evening and are required to do a number of different things. They were obviously in breach of probation on a number of occasions by being out very late at night. There were 52 charges of break and enter but only one conviction. They were found guilty on all charges. There was the one conviction but they were not incarcerated. They were put on probation and were expected to follow the rules.
More break and enters followed because these individuals were out late, clumped together and kept stealing. The police said: "If only we had the authority and the power we could have prevented some of these problems". They do not even have to arrest and lock them up. The fact that they would have the authority to stop them and ask them what they are doing breaking their probation orders, maybe giving them an opportunity to get the heck out of there and go home, would help. However they need the authority to do it.
This small little bill is just one measure that would help a great deal in the prevention of crime throughout the country. It is something the police have asked for. It is something that I have agreed to submit on their behalf. It was awhile before my name was drawn. I was lucky enough to get it drawn so I am putting this forward.
In the near future I will also be putting forward legislation that would give police the authority to arrest people who are in violation of parole and statutory release. Whenever there are conditions to a release somebody should have the authority to do something when they are in obvious breach of those conditions.
I do not believe any member in the House can say for a moment that it would not be a good idea to stop crime before it happens. There is no doubt in the minds of all the enforcement officers I have talked to that if they had the authority, which they do not have now, if they had the ability, which they do not have, they would be more than pleased to do these things because they feel that would be a major part of their job. Let us face it. Enforcement of the law is a major part of their job, but so is prevention. If those in the enforcement agencies can prevent it from happening, they do so.
That is why they stop drunk people from getting behind the wheel of a car and driving off. They do not wait until a drunk person drives off, they prevent it by trying to stop that person from getting behind the wheel.
This is a perfect example of something this House should do by adopting this kind of measure. I do not have much more to say on it. It is a common sense measure and does not encroach on anyone's rights or privileges. We always seem to be worried about the charter and the interference we may run into on a charter challenge.
The supreme court judges surely would get the message from legislators that this kind of legislation is serving a purpose. This purpose appears in the red book. It is in the Reform Party policies. It is in the Bloc policies. One of the policies of every party in this House is to make Canada a safer and better place in which to live. This kind of legislation would do that.
I encourage support from everyone in the House to put into the hands of the police departments throughout the country, the power and the ability to do this. They do not have it now. I repeat, they cannot do it now. Let us make it possible for them to do so. Let us take the burden off the understaffed and undermanned probation departments. They are running at an unbelievable pace trying to keep up with all the difficulties they now have.
It is a way of accomplishing what we all said we would do in our policies. It is a small way, but a good place to start. I suggest that we adopt this bill immediately.