As long as he does not move his head we are okay, Mr. Speaker.
Even the justice minister admitted a few days ago that Canadians want a country where they feel secure in their homes and communities and where men and women can grow without fear. Our society has been shaken by violent crime and a defective criminal justice system which this Liberal government has been so slow to fix.
Despite the justice minister's claims, the public interest will not be served by keeping murderers in prison for any less than 25 years. The justice minister is trying to suck and blow at the same time. He is trying to satisfy Canadians that he will look after the Clifford Olson's of this world by not allowing them a chance for early parole from this time forward.
We are not concerned about Olson. He is not going to get out. I think most Canadians should feel safe about that. Even under the
existing law he will not get out. We do not need to scare Canadians with that. That is not what the Reform Party is saying.
However, we are saying that the justice minister cannot suck and blow at the same time, telling Canadians to fear no more and still please the bleeding heart liberals, the bleeding heart defence lawyers who try to go to the nth degree to make the law more lenient for criminals. They do not give a darn about the victims. They are so quickly forgotten.
Look at Nicole Simpson. Look at the tragedy in Calgary where someone was shot six times in the back. The whole trial was not about the victim. The whole trial was about whether the offender was in a robotic state. That is where defence lawyers are taking this country. I am offended and tired of it all.
The government cannot have it both ways. It must decide who it wants to please. The people the government and the minister should be trying to please is the Canadian public, not the bleeding heart liberal lawyers in our defence system.
The Canadian public is upset with the soft, wrong-headed target of this intended bill. They want to show the justice minister they are upset. They want to show him that he has not solved the problem but that he has created more anxiety and more fear and concern. They can show their concern by calling their MPs if they like but that probably will not make any difference. But Reformers are here every day. We will be hammering the justice minister every day. However, he is perfect and he never makes a mistake. He will never listen to us. But he will listen to Canadians.
Canadians want him to get with it, to get tough on young offenders. They want him to put in a proper Young Offenders Act, not one that is wishy-washy, where if a person is 15 or 16 they have to prove that they should not be tried in adult court. When 12 and 13-year-olds are telling the police what their rights are, it is time to crack down. If you do the crime you pay the time. These kids need protection from each other.
The minister is soft on section 745. He knows what the Canadian public wants. Why does he not just do the right thing?
Let me get back to the Canadian people. I believe there are lot of Liberals who believe that the justice minister is being too soft. We believe he is too soft. He should remove the anxiety and the fear from peoples' minds and make our streets safer. If the Canadian people feel that way then send him a fax. I am asking Canadians to send Rock a fax at 613-990-7255.