Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to address the bill introduced by the hon. member for Langley—Abbotsford.
As other speakers have pointed out, Bill C-211 seeks to amend the Criminal Code so as to make any breach of a condition of parole or statutory or temporary release an indictable offence. Therefore, a police officer would have the power to arrest, without a warrant, an offender under the federal legislation, if he has reasonable grounds to believe that the person has breached or is about to breach a condition of his parole.
Moreover, Bill C-211 would give a parole board the power, following the arrest of an offender, to release him or to ask a judge to keep him in custody until a warrant for his arrest is issued.
When we debated this legislation, on November 6, the hon. member for Langley—Abbotsford suggested that the proposed amendments were necessary, because police forces in Canada are currently unable to obtain a warrant, or to obtain it quickly enough to act effectively when offenders who come under federal jurisdiction fail to comply with the conditions of their parole.
I want to reassure the members of this House. These allegations are absolutely false. Again, I want to assure members opposite that these allegations are absolutely false. There are legislative provisions and mechanisms in place to allow our police forces to act quickly and effectively in this type of situation.
As far as the breach of conditions of parole, statutory or temporary release, as well as the prevention of such breaches, are concerned, let me say that the legislative provisions currently in effect already give correctional authorities all the powers, and I mean all the powers, necessary to suspend an offender's parole. This makes it possible for a police officer to arrest the offender and to place him in custody.
As for an offender who has received permission for an unescorted temporary release, a suspension warrant may be issued if the reasons for which the permission was issued have changed or no longer exist, or if there is fresh information which would have altered the initial decision if available at the time it was made.