Madam Speaker, I rise in support of Bill C-211, the private member's bill presented by my hon. colleague from Langley—Abbotsford. His amendment to the Criminal Code would permit peace officers to arrest parolees who are found to be in breach of their conditions of release.
One of the primary responsibilities of parliamentarians is to enact laws to ensure the safety and security of our citizens. For too long there has been a technicality or in essence a gaping hole in our laws which the legislation attempts to address. It is most distressful to be in this place and learn that it takes years to solve a simple problem.
As we all know, Canada is a large and diverse country. We have many large urban centres and we have many isolated communities. In most cases criminal offenders are able to move with relative freedom within the country once they have served their time and are released from prison.
Throughout the country one of the primary means of security and safety of our citizens comes with the presence and the skill of our valued police officers. They are the individuals who protect us 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in all parts of the land.
Because of concerns over public safety and because criminals are known to often reoffend, our laws permit a series of steps toward full freedom. Most offenders are released through a process of escorted temporary absences, unescorted temporary absences and/or statutory release.
These steps normally involve the offender being required to abide by a number of specific conditions. Some must refrain from attending alcoholic establishments because their past criminality was often influenced by their inability to consume alcohol in a responsible manner. Others must refrain from associating with specified criminal elements or specified individuals, usually because those elements or individuals are rationally seen to be a bad influence on the offender. In other cases those individuals may require the security of being isolated from the offender.
To the public at large it seems ridiculous that our police cannot independently arrest, remove and detain persons found to be in breach of release conditions. Supposedly the release conditions have been rationally and extensively considered. Supposedly the release conditions have been imposed to protect law-abiding citizens. It makes no sense for us to require our police to attempt to contact parole officials in order for a warrant to be issued authorizing the arrest of an offender who is clearly in breach of his or her conditions.
As many in this place are aware, I came here to advocate the protection and interests of victims of crime. I become greatly concerned when I can think of many examples whereby the present legislation is so limited in scope as to inhibit the ability of police to provide that protection. It complicates procedures to the extent where additional crime is a very real possibility and it provides an opportunity for further victimization.
We all are aware of the strain on our resources at this time. Police officers and departments have for years been increasingly required to do more with less.
I certainly can foresee the possible situation where a pedophile is released back into society and quite reasonably as a condition of release is prohibited from hanging around school yards and playgrounds. He will almost surely also be prohibited from being in the presence of children while unsupervised.
If the police become aware of a breach of one or more of these conditions, what can they do? Up to this point there has been no crime committed and there may not be sufficient evidence to believe that one is about to be committed.
Under present law police are limited to reporting the incident to the National Parole Board. We know National Parole Board personnel are not readily available in all parts of the country. These personnel will want to establish the bona fides of the infraction because in most cases they will not be familiar with the particular police officer. They may well require an extensive report of just what is occurring. They may not always be available at all hours of the day.
Is it reasonable to expect a police officer to remain on site until some unknown bureaucrat or parole official approves the arrest? It is not as if the police have nothing else to do. What if the officer has other priority calls to handle at the time? Are we to put our children at risk because of technicalities and procedure? Our police need the tools to protect us. They need the power to arrest the individual found in breach of release conditions. The parole officials can always decide later whether to revoke the release or impose additional restrictions.
I will provide another common example. It is most unfortunate but many of our citizens run afoul of the law because of their problems with alcohol. When they drink they drink to excess and they commit crimes. In an attempt at rehabilitation we release many criminals back into society with the condition to refrain from using alcohol.
Our police come into contact with alcohol in many ways. They are called to break up fights. They patrol bars and night clubs and they patrol our highways and our back alleys. They may well come across individuals who are violating their release conditions regarding alcohol.
Are they to await direction from parole authorities which may take hours or days, or are they to effect arrests in the interests of the safety of all and leave it to be ironed out in due course? Surely it is more desirable to err on the side of caution.
The mere act of drinking does not provide the peace officer with sufficient grounds to arrest without warrant. Workload demands make it impractical to maintain surveillance for long periods of time. Who will be to blame when the police officer moves on to other responsibilities and the offender continues to drink, gets behind the wheel and ends up killing innocent people in a car accident? Who will be to blame when he staggers through the front door and assaults his wife and children?
An additional example comes from Mr. Ian Russell, the chief of police for the town of LaSalle in the Windsor, Ontario, area. He has had an extensive career in law enforcement having retired from the metro Toronto police department. He was quoted as stating: “There is no power of arrest for a police officer who finds a person in violation of a condition of their parole”.
He cited the example of a convicted wife beater who was released from jail with the condition to stay at least 1,000 metres away from the home of his victim. Nevertheless he goes to her home and stands on the public sidewalk. The frantic victim calls the police. Officers arrive but the man is not trespassing. His behaviour cannot be called stalking. He is obviously violating his parole conditions but the police cannot arrest him or remove the apparent threat until the National Parole Board issues a warrant.
Mr. Russell is frustrated. He is also concerned because the criminal has now been put on notice that he may be reincarcerated because he was seen to be breaking his parole conditions. Mr. Russell is concerned the offender may decide to commit a serious crime to make a return to jail worthwhile.
My concern is for the very real possibility that the offender may retaliate against his victim for notifying the police in the first place. Mr. Russell in his vast experience at one time chaired parole board hearings. He is well aware of the limited resources and capability of the parole board to assist the police under the present legislation.
One previous argument opposing the legislation cited the lack of statistical proof that the present system imposes unreasonable time constraints on the police. Frankly this does not surprise me. This is the old let us wait until somebody dies before we decide if there is a problem attitude. It is so typically Liberal it is reprehensible.
Another argument suggests that parole and release conditions are intended to assist the reintegration of the offender into society. Therefore it is argued that parole supervisors are better situated to determine whether an offender's behaviour warrants apprehension.
There we go again. Let us consider the best interests of the offender and public safety be damned. What hogwash. The very fact that a parolee wilfully breaches his conditions is a pretty strong indicator that he is not responsible enough to be entrusted with his freedom in the community. Who is in a better position to assess the immediate situation? Is it the parole officer wiping the sleep from his eyes at three o'clock in the morning as he picks up his bedside phone or the cop confronting the offender in an alleyway?
In order to highlight the fallacy of the laws as they currently exist I ask the House to consider the following. A prostitute found to be in breach of a court ordered condition of probation by standing on a corner where she is not supposed to be is subject to immediate arrest, removal and detention. A pedophile violating his parole by lurking around children is not. Just who are we trying to protect?
The safety of Canadians is at risk because of weaknesses in our law. Canadians continue to be victimized, some again by the same individuals, once on the initial charge and again on their release from jail. Our police are available and ready to do the job of protecting us. They need to be provided with the tools to do so. I urge hon. members of the House to seriously consider fulfilling this need.