I apologize. When Reformers were elected in 1993 and prior we said to our constituents that if the government put forward a bill worthy of support we would support it. Even though the frequency of a good piece of legislation coming from the Liberal government is about as often as a comet goes through the skies, we have here a piece of legislation that is worthy of support. It might be coincidental that the Hale-Bopp is flying across the skies right now and a good piece of Liberal legislation comes forward.
I may give it too much credit when I say good. It is acceptable because it goes some way to providing some changes to the criminal justice system in relationship to how records of victims can be brought into the court.
The purpose of Bill C-46 is to strike a fair balance between the rights of the victims and the rights of the accused at sexual assault trials. In past trials of this nature defence lawyers would often ask for a complainant's psychiatric report, reports from the Children's Aid Society, social welfare, school and employment records, as well as personal diaries and journals.
There is no doubt that in this country as in many countries there are some very unscrupulous lawyers in the practice that have taken the opportunity and privilege of asking for all these records and proceeded in the case not to try to prove the innocence of their client but to try to win the case. They take any little piece of material they can from the records and attempt to discredit the complainant. It is not a popular way for defence lawyers to deal with crimes like these. However defence lawyers are demanding to see these records sometimes to provide a full and fair defence of the accused. Too many times defence lawyers have used this information to directly, viciously and unscrupulously attack the complainants in crimes, which is very wrong. It is one of the reasons many Canadians rank lawyers below politicians, in particular Liberal politicians.
It is understandable why some people who have been sexually assaulted have been reluctant to come forward and press charges. They know what goes on in the courtrooms. They have seen evidence in the newspaper and in the media of complainants being viciously attacked by defence lawyers who have obtained records that are years old, have asked the court to look at the record and have said that the person is not credible in any way because of something that happened 32 years ago.
They are on the attack, attack, attack. It does not matter whether the evidence against their client is overwhelming. They may know that if they rely on the evidence to try to show their client's innocence they could very well lose the case. They go on the attack and unscrupulously use records of the complainants.
There is a need for legislation to balance the right of the accused to a full and fair defence and the right of the victim to privacy. I would suggest that the latter is of prime importance in this case.
Bill C-46 tries to strike that balance by establishing a two-step process that would deal with defence lawyers obtaining these records. The complainant's lawyer is given the ability to object to certain arguments during the in camera hearings. The judges have to be satisfied with the argument put forward by the accused for orders to be sent out. If the judges feel some of the records are not relevant to the case they can refuse to let them be introduced.
Under the Canadian justice system defendants have a right to a fair trial. Unfortunately most trials show little sign of any type of justice or fairness, particularly when it comes to victims of crime.
Having sat in this 35th Parliament I know that victims rights are not something the Liberal government understands or has ever been prepared to deal with.
The Reform Party has pressed the Liberal government and the Liberal justice minister over and over again for the last 3.5 years to take some action on the issue of victims rights. Our suggestions, our comments and our private member's bill on the issue have met with deaf ears on that side of the House.
It is coincidental again that there might be another comet coming. On the eve of an election, in the 11th hour before an election, all of a sudden the Liberal government and justice minister recognize there are victims of crime in society. Lo and behold they are to become overnight the champions of victims rights.
I do not call that giving Canadians and victims of crime a fair shake. I call that exploitation of victims. Were there not an election pending the Liberal justice minister would not be dealing with the issue. He knows the Reform Party has been effective in dealing with the issue, in bringing it to the public's awareness and in bringing the lack of sensitivity of the justice minister to the public's awareness. He knows, his Liberal strategists know and their campaign managers know that they had better show they are trying to do something. They had better give some sort of illusion that they are trying to do something.
Some time this week the Minister of Justice and the Liberal government will make a mock attempt to show they are the champions of victims rights, but Canadian people are a lot smarter than that. They are not going to buy this facade that the Liberal government and the justice minister are putting forward.
Speaking of private members' business, here is a good example of the Liberals' lack of recognition of victims of crime in this country. My private member's Motion No. 78 to strengthen and enhance deterrents for people who drink and then jump in their cars and drive was passed in this House. It was adopted by the House in February.
This is a crime that kills 1,800 people a year currently, injures some 90,000 people a year currently and costs Canadians billions of dollars because people drink and drive in this country and they have not had adequate deterrents and governments have not addressed this.
This motion is sitting on some shelf somewhere. A motion that deals with a crime that is 100 per cent preventable, a motion that deals with a crime that kills some 1,800 people a year, about four
and a half times more people than murder, a motion that deals with a crime that injures some 90,000 people a year and creates untold misery for the victims of this crime is sitting on some shelf because this Liberal government does not have the backbone to deal with it. So much for the recognition of victims rights in this country. So much for the concern of this Liberal justice minister for the victims of crime. The people of Canada will not be fooled by this facade that is coming.
Motion No. 78 would not be the first time the Liberal government ignored the will of Parliament when it comes to strengthening the justice system and putting victims first.
The House passed a private member's bill, and I am sure the chairman of the justice committee will remember this one, Bill C-226, which would have abolished section 745 of the Criminal Code, thereby denying killers an opportunity at early parole. No one in the House can forget the passing of Bill C-226. No one can forget it but there are many in the House, including the Liberal justice minister and the Liberal chairman of the justice committee, who can easily ignore it. They cannot forget it but they can ignore it.
Once this bill passed, at the direction of the justice minister, it sat in limbo at the justice committee for about two years. It was never dealt with even though it was the will of the House, even though millions of Canadians across the country wanted this bill to be enforced. Finally the committee tried to scrap the bill. It tried to scrap it but it failed. It remains before the committee to this day and yet will never be brought forward before the committee because it is not the will of the Minister of Justice, nor probably the will of the Liberal members on the justice committee.
The passage of the bill was the will of Parliament. The fact that it was the will of Parliament does not matter. The fact that it was the will of the House does not matter one bit to the Liberal justice minister because it does not fit in with his Liberal philosophy that individuals are not responsible for what they do because it is society that made them that way.
Let all victims of crime in this country, let all people who fear for their safety, let all law-abiding citizens who have concerns about the safety of their family and children hear this. The Minister of Justice said in this House not a few months ago that the number one priority of the criminal justice system in this country is the rehabilitation and the reintegration of criminals into society.
That is exactly what he said in this House. The average Canadian is out there saying that punishment for crime does not count. Protection of our society does not count. The rights of victims do not count.
What counts is the philosophy of the Minister of Justice and his friends in upper York, in Toronto, as they sit around sipping cappuccino and discussing how society is so tough on everyone that criminals are a result of society and should not be treated too badly. That does not count.
It was no surprise that Bill C-226 did not get very far once it was adopted by this House. It does not fit into the philosophy of the Minister of Justice and many of these Liberals opposite.
Victims rights groups fully backed Bill C-226 but that does not matter to the Minister of Justice. It does not matter to the chairman of the Liberal justice committee. Canadians from across the country were on national television imploring the Liberal Minister of Justice to deal with this bill but that does not matter.
People who live in Winnipeg-St. James stood up in the media and said they want section 745 of the Criminal Code abolished but their member of Parliament for Winnipeg-St. James came to this House and said that basically he did not care what the people in his riding said, that he did not care that the people in Winnipeg-St. James said they wanted section 745 abolished. He does not care about that. "The Minister of Justice said that it would not happen and I am a good Liberal and it will not happen".
To dodge criticism, the justice minister brought in some half baked measures with respect to amending section 745, measures that only require killers to jump through a few more hoops before applying for early parole.
These are good. One of the amendments would ensure that serial killers who murdered after 1997 would not have access to a 745 review. That is not bad. Sitting in prisons in this country are several serial killers who are perfectly at liberty to spend taxpayer dollars and bring back tragic memories of the victims of crime. We are going through the Clifford Olson thing. They do not fit into this bill.
The justice minister said that we cannot do that because there will be a court challenge. I do not care if there are a dozen court challenges. Clifford Olson should not be allowed to apply for early parole and the Liberals across the way know it.
Their amendments were nonsense and that is why the Reform Party voted against them. They were nonsense and they did not in any way reflect what the Canadian people wanted. That is why the Reform Party voted against them.
These Liberals across the way are saying that Reformers vote against all the good things they put forward. When they put through something good we will support it. However, this bill we are talking about now is just milk toast.
The Liberals had plenty of time to address victim rights since their election in 1993 and they have not done it. Now an election is looming and it is time. Let us throw a few little carrots out there. They want to create an illusion that they really mean it.
That is nonsense. The Liberals tinkered with sentencing amendments and introduced a reverse onus provision with respect to the Young Offenders Act, transfer to adult court. In the end, justice is not served.
We could go on and on to talk about conditional sentencing. That is a wonderful one. In Alberta a man fired a gun at his wife in an attempt to kill her. Fortunately he missed. He was given some sort of a Mickey Mouse conditional sentence to do some work in the community.
In B.C. a man convicted of sexually assaulting his 11-year old babysitter once a week for three years is given some sort of a Mickey Mouse conditional Liberal sentencing type provision.
A conditional of sentence of two years was handed down to a B.C. man who raped a woman in his car because this type of sentencing fits into this Liberal philosophy.
It is a travesty the way this Liberal government treats victims of crime in this country. Their bleeding heart approach to punishing people who commit crimes is a travesty.