Murderers, I agree. Maybe the members opposite would contain themselves a bit. We have had plenty of time to hear them in debate. Perhaps I could address some of their concerns.
The Reform Party members opposite say to repeal it and they go to the victims of crime. They go to the very victims, the people who have suffered the most and say that if this is repealed, according to the Reform Party's representations during the processing of this bill through Parliament, suddenly everybody who is behind bars will have to come under the new regulations. My understanding of the law is that simply is not the case. It is a fundamental principle of justice that when dealing with substantive issues, they cannot be retrospective in their application.
We have many lawyers. I am not a lawyer. I am just a poor soul from Cape Breton who is representing the good people of Dartmouth in the Parliament of Canada and lucky enough to do it. I talk to lawyers. They tell me that even if we wanted to, if we repealed this bill so that some of those criminals, the bottom dwellers who have perpetrated the most heinous of crimes in society, never get out, we could not do it. A fundamental tenet of justice not only here but in any country that has responsive systems of justice would be violated. As much as some in this place, maybe on our side as well, would like to see that done, it does not have the same impact as some of the amendments would propose.
Nobody on this side of the House is saying that individuals who are convicted of murder should be treated with kid gloves; it is exactly the opposite. What we have to say, as legislators, and what we have to understand is that not every case is the same.
Yes, what we have to do when we craft our laws is to ensure that we do not craft our laws based on a gut reaction as to where it
should be. We must do it on a careful examination as legislators regarding what is workable and what is fair for Canadians.
I have come a long way since I was first elected to Parliament in 1988. When I was elected in 1988, I was one of the people who perhaps was more on the left side of the administration of justice.
I have been here for eight years and have listened a lot to the people of our communities and I have seen the impact of some violent crimes. Members opposite may laugh, but I have seen some victims of crime, young girls of 13, 14 and 15 years of age who had been viciously raped by pimps. They were taken from their communities and became addicted to drugs and prostituted on the streets of Toronto, New York and Niagara Falls. I was one of the people who stood up in my caucus in government and in this place and said that the laws we had dealing with those types of criminals had to be revised and reformed because the sentences simply did not fit the crime or the aversion of the Canadian public to the perpetrators of those crimes.
I will continue to speak up in Parliament for what I believe are necessary reforms to the criminal justice system. But I will not fall off the edge of the world into the right wing abyss which says that everybody who commits any type of crime should be dealt with in a very harsh and uncaring manner by the court system in Canada.
This bill is a step in the right direction. It stops short of lumping all individuals into the same category. It ensures that those people in future who are convicted of multiple or mass murders will not have access to section 745 of the Criminal Code. It makes sure that does not happen. It puts firm rules in place which will stop the frivolous application by criminals of section 745 to gain earlier parole. In many cases it is not to get the earlier parole, because there is no chance for it, but simply to draw more attention to the crimes they have committed.
In conclusion, I support the direction this bill is taking. I fully understand that maybe in one, two or even four years the bill and the entire issue of the application of section 745 must be reviewed. Indeed, when the bill passes this place the Minister of Justice and the officials of the Department of Justice, I would counsel, should keep close watch on its application and implication in the criminal justice system. They should also take into account how this has impacted and what are the responses from the victims of these heinous crimes.
To have a criminal justice system in Canada supported by the Canadian public it must be responsive to the Canadian public as a whole, not just people on one side or the other side of an issue, but for the Canadian public in general.
I applaud the Minister of Justice for this bill. I know he has very strong personal views on this which may or may not be reflected in the legislation. However, I think the Minister of Justice understands how the criminal justice system in Canada must be responsive to the needs, aspirations and the demands of Canadians for a safe and secure society and that those people who break the rules are treated effectively under the law, that people can be rehabilitated, that the resources will be there to do it; but that those people who commit the most heinous of crimes do not have access to provisions for application under the law for early parole.
I think this bill does it and I applaud the minister for it. I look forward to its speedy passage in the House.