Madam Speaker, I feel pleased and I feel sad about feeling compelled to rise in the debate on this issue. The good part of it is that I think this is moving in the right direction. The sad part of it is that it puts absolutely no restrictions on the environment or on the conditions under which a person can be released into society.
I would like to focus this in terms of several questions. First, the amendment says that the judge be satisfied that serving the sentence in the community would not endanger the safety of the community. The first question very obviously is what would constitute evidence or support for a judge to suggest he is satisfied that releasing this particular offender into the community will not put into jeopardy or endanger the safety of that community? Could it be that we send the offender out for an experimental period and then if he is okay for five days, six days, seven days it is all right?
The previous speaker has indicated that we want to rehabilitate our criminals. Of course we want to do that. Of course we want people to obey the law. Of course we want them to behave in a reasonable way. But that is not what this is all about.
This suggests that the judge use some common sense. Has it really come to the point where our justice system, our legal system is in such a depraved condition that we have to legislate to use common sense? It should be obvious that we use our common sense.
That is essentially what this amendment does. I am not at all satisfied that this will deal with the problem of criminal offenders in our society.
There was an amendment that was proposed by members of the Reform Party. It had several Liberal backbenchers as well supporting it. It was that the use of alternate measures be limited to non-violent offenders.
This amendment does not do anything of that sort. It allows any person to be considered for alternate measures. To give an example of how these alternate measures have been used, let me quote from
a news article: "A Gatineau man was recently convicted for repeatedly forcing his young step sons to perform sexual acts on their hypnotized mother. The crimes ended by the early 1970s, and in the years that followed he was by all accounts a solid citizen. The judge let him go without serving a day in prison. Two decades of good behaviour obviously should count for something".
What does this tell people who offend the law? It means go ahead, commit the crime and behave yourself after that and there are no consequences. If we did that to the law of gravity and said that we did not think that the law of gravity operates and then walked along the top of a building, the consequence would not be delayed for 20 years, it would be immediate. That is exactly what should happen in our justice system.
Too many people are beginning to recognize that our legal system is nothing but a system of technicalities to get people away from the consequences that would normally be expected for breaking the law. That would be a common sense application of the law. Deal with the consequences and we must accept the consequences if we break the law.
Instead of that we have legal technicalities that allow people to avoid the consequences of breaking the law. What we need to do in this society is create a legal system that is a justice system.
Where is the intent of Parliament? Is it really true that all the members of this House want from the justice people in this country is to use their common sense? Is that all the judges need to do? Or are they to use their imagination by telling someone that for this crime there is this consequence but for that crime there is another consequence? The sentencing does not really matter because it is all up to the judge. It is a free for all depending on what the situation is.
That is what has brought disrespect for the justice system. That is what has brought disrespect for lawyers. It has allowed them to use technicalities when they know full well that somebody has broken the law and is guilty of a heinous crime but on a technicality walks away free. That is a miscarriage of justice and is not in the interest of society.
It goes on. Where is the confidence that needs to be generated in our justice system if there are no consequences of breaking the law? Our young people need to develop strong personalities and strong characters from good examples. They do not need a father who takes his step son and forces him to commit sexual acts on his hypnotized mother. That is the opposite of the kind of example we want.
What we need are strong families, families that have integrated into the lives of the children the values that clearly demonstrate what is right and what is wrong. It has come to the point where it is almost as if there is no difference between what is right and what is wrong. When will we be able to inculcate into the lives of our children, the thinking of our children and the consciences of our children that says this is right and this is wrong? We support that which is right and we have consequences for that which is wrong and they are not good.
I want to go one step further. It has to do with the victims who are involved here. We have had much said about the rights of victims. We have had much said about the rights of offenders. However, when the two rights come in conflict, the rights of the victim on the one hand and the rights of the offender on the other, the rights of the victim ought to take precedence over the rights of the offender.
Let us now put into perspective the situation of allowing into a community someone who has committed a violent offence. The consequence should be incarceration or some serious punishment for someone who has committed a violent crime. However, when someone is released into the community to serve the sentence what have we done to the victims? We have created an environment of fear for them. Instead of the offender being in prison, the victims find themselves in fear of going out on to the streets. They are afraid to leave their homes. Who is suffering the consequence of this crime? It is not the person who offended but the person who is the victim and continues to be victimized, not just the one against whom the crime was perpetrated but also all others in the neighbourhood who cower in fear and are afraid to go out on to the streets.
I asked a number of people at a recent meeting if they felt safer today than they did three and a half years ago. They answered no. I asked them why. They said it was because our legal system is not a justice system but a technical system. Parliament has not given clear direction to our judges as to how punishment should be administered. We do not like to hear stories like this where a father can do this kind of thing.
Let me give another example. In British Columbia a man was convicted for abducting and sodomizing a single mother. The actions were described to the court by a psychologist as aggressive, angry, controlling and sadistic. The judge, however, was impressed that the man's behaviour while on bail was exemplary and psychological assessments indicated that he was unlikely to reoffend. Although a convicted rapist he will never see the inside of a prison.
That is what our justice system has come to. What does this amendment do to solve that kind of situation? Nothing. It moves in the direction but it does not indicate to a judge that we want persons who commit heinous and violent crimes to be subjected to serious consequences somewhat equal to the crimes committed.
Our first and foremost consideration is to preserve the health, welfare, lives and property of law-abiding citizens and not to prefer the rights of the offender over the rights of the victim.
We will support the amendment. However, when will the minister and the justice system reach the point of recognizing the worth and freedom of individuals and rather than imprisoning the victims imprisoning the people who committed the offence in the first place.