Mr. Speaker, I rise to seek the justice minister's commitment to act in the case of former RCMP officer Patrick Kelly.
As I noted in this House last year, Mr. Kelly was convicted 11 years ago in the murder of his wife. The prosecution's key witness, Dawn Taber, came forward in 1993 and admitted that she had not witnessed the murder, contrary to her testimony almost ten years ago. Ms. Taber said last Wednesday: "You cannot imagine what this has been like, to realize that what you have said has put a man in prison".
I understand that the minister has a lot on his desk: amendments to the criminal code, constituents up in arms over firearms registration, as well as constituent concerns. However, when the Minister of Justice leaves his office at the end of the day a woman will be sitting at home wanting to clear her conscience and a man will be sitting in jail awaiting a new trial. Before another day passes I challenge the minister to start the process and give Mr. Kelly a chance to state his case fairly in a court of law.