Mr. Speaker, last year Sarah Kelly, a constituent of mine, was brutally murdered by Robert Bliss Arthurson, a known sex offender in The Pas, Manitoba.
Arthurson had been previously convicted for sexual offences involving children. He was known to police and social service agencies as a potential threat to children, but they felt under the current laws of Canada and Manitoba that they could not legally warn the community of the threat he posed.
Today I present to the House a petition with signatures from over 2,000 residents of The Pas and other communities. They pray that this Parliament enact legislation to enable courts to notify residents when sex offenders and murderers are released into the community.
I call on the hon. Minister of Justice and my fellow members to join me in finding ways to achieve this.