Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have an opportunity to speak on Bill C-205. I commend the member from Scarborough for an excellent presentation of his bill.
As legislators there are often times when we find there are loopholes or something missing in our judicial system. Unfortunately it is brought to our attention by the criminal elements in our society. In the past couple of years there have been two such cases which come to mind.
Back in March of this year we were informed that in an agreement with a former warden Clifford Olson had produced a dozen videotapes in prison modestly titled "Motivational Sexual Homicide Patterns of Serial Killer Clifford Robert Olson", recorded by a willing prison staff person. The purpose of the videos was apparently to provide insight into Olson's motives for committing 11 sex murders of children in B.C. before his arrest in 1981. He also agreed to provide new information about unsolved murders.
Then Mr. Olson registered for a copyright on the series of videotapes. This I might add is usually done for material with commercial potential. The fact that Olson would receive copyright protection of these videos was appalling at the time of discovery and it remains so today.
Before the videotapes were exposed however, last fall my hon. colleague from Surrey-White Rock-South Langley received a letter from Olson who claimed to be writing a book for an American publisher. He wanted a picture of her and permission to use documents prepared by her office in his book.
In addition to the tapes and this letter, Mr. Olson registered a copyright in 1989 on a book entitled Profile of a Serial Killer: The Clifford Olson Case . He registered a second copyright in 1992 on a volume entitled Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer: A Profile . Later in August 1993 it was revealed in Saturday Night magazine that Mr. Olson had access to a reporter for 18 months of regular meetings, hundreds of hours of telephone conversations and active correspondence with him. He revealed that he had already made 35 cassette tapes of his autobiography.
As the House can see, Mr. Olson has produced a number of pieces of work with the potential for him to profit from them. In the case of the videotapes, they are the property of Correctional Services Canada and not Olson. He will therefore not profit, not
this time. However we have to prepare for the next time. The threat of him being able to profit from any such material always exists.
Olson has already manipulated the system for personal profit on one occasion. This was back in 1981 when the RCMP made a contract with him which allowed him to benefit financially from the deaths of the children he murdered. In 1982 the parents of Olson's victims sued Olson in civil court to have the money taken away from Olson and his family. The case was taken to the supreme court but unlike the American system, there were no laws in Canada to prevent him from profiting from these crimes. Beyond these frustrations is the fact that it has forced the families of Olson's victims to relive their tragedies again. These families feared all along that Olson would profit from the deaths of their children.
On March 17, 1996 I received a letter from Gary Rosenfeldt, one of the founders of Victims of Violence. He expressed fear that Olson or his lawyer might try to sell the videotapes to an American tabloid television program. It is clear that in the past couple of years he has produced enough work that has the potential to gain profit. This is why it is so important for Bill C-205 to be passed immediately into law.
This issue was once again revived in the wake of the manslaughter conviction of Karla Homolka who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for her part in the killings of teenagers Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy. There was speculation that Homolka could be offered a television or book deal. Once again we are faced with the situation where there is no law barring Homolka from selling her story to the U.S. media networks or book publishers.
According to the mother of Leslie Mahaffy, the sensationalism began with a book called Lethal Marriage . Since that time there have been many articles published and the knowledge that at least three more books, a movie contract, magazine specials, TV specials and talk show offers have given Mrs. Mahaffy no comfort, only apprehension as to whether Homolka or Bernardo will collaborate in any of these productions.
Beyond these two cases we have had two others where the people have profited from their crimes. Roger Caron, a former bank robber, would not have been able to collect royalties on his Governor General's award winning book Go-boy which he wrote while still in prison. In the case of Lawrencia Bembenek, she would have had to forgo payment for her book Woman on Trial published in 1993. In this case she used the proceeds to help pay Canadian lawyers for the work they did on her case. She probably would not have written the story otherwise.
In all of these cases, Bill C-205 would deny these individuals the opportunity to profit from their crimes. This is a much needed step in the right direction. In today's society there is a tendency to make criminals celebrities with no regard to the moral questions involved. Today we have criminals collaborating on movie deals, becoming technical advisers in the creation of their movies and simply banking the profits.
Sensationalism is at the forefront of most major news stories. The more sensational the story, the more profit there is to be made. It is bad enough when people want to profit from someone else's tragedy but the fact that the criminals themselves can profit from the crimes is outrageous. It is simply hard to believe that Canada would allow serial killers, child rapists, murderers and violent criminals to write their stories of crime and be able to bank the money anywhere in the world.
Criminal acts are now held in such heroic stature that the escalation of these horrible crimes may never be deterred. Now is the time for action and this piece of legislation is the kind of law we need. We have to send a message that crime does not pay.
My hon. colleague for Scarborough West has sought to rectify these situations in his Private Member's Bill C-205. He has attempted to ensure that no criminals will profit from writing about or selling the story of their criminal activities.
Many of the victims of crime have been pushing for this legislation for a long time. The suffering these families endure on a good day is overwhelming, but as Leslie Mahaffy's mother states: "We cannot afford not to stop the sale of violence, profit from crime, especially murder which is obscene. Murder, violence, degradation, dehumanization, pornography are currently being marketed in novels, electronic games, slasher movies, videos and this must be stopped".
All in all, this legislation will ensure that victims and their families are not further victimized by criminals. We must do more for victims of crime and ensure that their rights and freedoms are respected as well. It is only right that the proceeds from such crimes should revert to the crown in order to reimburse society for some of the costs for ensuring safety in our society. Once and for all, the victims of crime must be considered before the criminals themselves.
With these thoughts in mind, I intend to move an amendment in the future which will allow the victims of crime to benefit directly. This is based on a model developed in the province of Ontario. In 1994 legislation was adopted that empowered the Attorney General of Ontario to seize all proceeds earned by criminals selling their stories. Under Bill 85, all money made by criminals would be sent to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board which would directly help the families of the victims of crime. If this is possible provincially, there is no reason it could not work federally.
Therefore, I will be working toward this amendment which will be presented to the justice committee in the weeks to come.
Once again, my congratulations to the member for Scarborough West. May this bill become law.