Mr. Speaker, I must say a few words in response to a number of the suggestions that have been put forward by the hon. member for Crowfoot.
The member seems to take great exception to the fact that this private members' bill was not deemed votable. The bill went before a committee, as do all other private members' bills from all of the parties and all the independent members. That is where a determination is made as to whether or not these bills are votable.
The committee determines in a unanimous fashion which bills are votable and which are not. This is not an unusual procedure. It is not a procedure that the hon. member is not familiar with. This is a procedure that has been followed and has been very successful in ensuring that the best private members' bills come forward for full debate and are voted upon by representatives of the people in the House. This government has done a great deal of work to ensure that private members' bills which come forward are debated. Individual members of Parliament have their say significantly increased.
This government, for the first time, has made votable private members' bills free votes which allow each and every member to express their viewpoints either for or against the piece of legislation. There have been a number of other types of free votes in the House. There will be more to come. On this side of the House we are very supportive of that initiative, to give individual members of Parliament more access to free votes.
Many of the bills presented by hon. members of the Reform Party with respect to criminal justice come forward. Many of these bills obviously have not been given very much thought. On the face of them they are not legal, they are inconsistent with other provisions of the Criminal Code, or they are in some other matter completely unacceptable, making a mockery of law making in this country.
It is my view that when we put forward legislation, in particular criminal legislation, great care must be taken to ensure the integrity of the Criminal Code, the consistency within the Criminal Code. We must ensure to the best of our ability that changes recommended to the Criminal Code are to be for the betterment of the criminal law as a whole and not some superficial piece of politics simply designed to arouse emotions and not really get at the root of the problem.
In addition, it just simply does not matter if these provisions are legal or not. A little more respect needs to be paid to the provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada rather than making it a political plaything for the purpose of political points.
The justice system in this country is something we all hold in high esteem. Our purpose ought to be when we see real problems to respond to the needs of the people. I must say in relation to the constant criticism by the Reform Party that the Minister of Justice has put forward more reforms and more significant reforms in the field of criminal law in this country than has been done in the history of any previous Parliaments. This is a tremendous accomplishment.
Criminal law and criminal law amendment are not simple matters. We must on a continual basis be consulting with all the parties affected, whether they be victims groups, the crown lawyers, defence lawyers, the provinces, the provincial authorities who under the Constitution have the responsibility for the administration of justice. Each of these items and changes needs to be the result of extensive consultations. Not only has the minister brought forward many significant pieces of legislation, but in each case the proper consultations were undertaken.
There was never such energy in the Department of Justice until the present minister took over. For instance, he has already taken steps to improve the Young Offenders Act by increasing the sentences for the most serious crimes and for reversing the onus on 16 and 17-year-olds, making it more likely that they will be tried in adult court.
He has left the further review of the Young Offenders Act to the justice committee which will be touring the country, hearing from stakeholders from coast to coast who are involved in the criminal justice system. As well, the committee will be working, in addition to the federal, provincial and territorial task force on youth crime, to make recommendations for appropriate further adjustments to the Young Offenders Act.
In addition to the above, many amendments have been made or are being proposed to the Criminal Code. The Minister of Justice has proposed that section 745 be toughened up. Provisions to ensure long term offenders are more appropriately dealt within the system are being introduced. These measures to deal with long term offenders will ensure there are significant community controls for up to 10 years after the individual comes to the end of a finite sentence to ensure that within the community the controls are in place.
There is also the possible extension to the window for bringing a dangerous offender application, which will make these types of provisions more available. A flagging system has been introduced nationally to allow crown prosecutors to see which of the likely candidates could be brought forward for a dangerous offender application.
There have been improvements to the gun legislation which will ensure there mechanisms in place to make our society safer. They will give the police mechanisms, with due process involved, to remove firearms from individuals who have committed or threatened violence. All these types of measures have significantly improved the criminal justice system.
Many changes have been introduced within legislation to enhance the role of victims within the criminal justice system. Many of these measures are designed to make our homes, communities and streets safer places. There are also changes to enhance the role of victims within the criminal justice system.
Reform does a lot of talking and makes a lot of noise about safe streets, but every time these recommendations or laws are brought forward the Reform Party votes against them. All it can think about is caning and spanking people. We need a little more creativity in our criminal law than that. We need to ensure strong criminal laws. In addition, we need to ensure we are getting at the root causes of crime at an early stage so we can truly have a safer society.