Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak to Group No. 6. I compliment my colleague from Crowfoot on the hard work he has done on Bill C-3.
Essentially it deals with the timing of DNA samples, the taking of samples at the time of charging the offender and retaining them for analysis upon conviction. It needs to be toughened up a lot. Members from the other side have mentioned a number of times that it is expensive to do these tests. What is the cost of not doing these tests?
I could not find any evidence in Canada, but let us look at the evidence in the United States. The United States has been much more aggressive than we have been in utilizing DNA sampling and DNA as a scientific tool in the fight against crime.
Recent FBI statistics state that less than half of all rapes were solved by police and less than 10% took samples at the scene of the crime for use by the laboratories. In only 6% of 250,000 rape cases was DNA was actually recovered and tested. That points to a significant flaw.
If we look at all the rapes convictions and take it as 100%, of those convictions only 48% or less than half was DNA collected and only in 27% was the DNA typed. Less than a quarter of all the DNA that was collected, which is about 12%, was from those convicted. That is a very small amount.
What are our costs, society's costs, the police costs and the judicial costs in not utilizing DNA as an effective tool against crime? We could think of all the time that would be saved if we could take samples from all those charged, charter challenges notwithstanding.
If one is innocent one has nothing to fear. If one is innocent the DNA can be used to exonerate. An enormous body of work, again from the United States and from the United Kingdom which has been even more aggressive than the States in utilizing the DNA databank, shows very clearly that DNA can be used as an effective tool to exonerate the innocent. It is a double edged sword. DNA can be used as an effective tool to convict the guilty and to make sure the innocent are not convicted. We have had both cases.
We had the case of Paul Bernardo where lives could have been saved if the samples that were taken from Mr. Bernardo were analysed in a timely fashion. Instead they were laid to languish in a laboratory and as a result at least two young innocent women were murdered and countless others were raped. We have also seen cases where the innocent would not have spent time in jail were DNA used as a tool to exonerate them.
If we are interested in justice we will pass Group No. 6. We will pass Motion No. 10 of my colleague from Crowfoot and will use it to make Bill C-3 a stronger bill.
There are other opportunities and other flaws that we can point to in using DNA. The United Kingdom has been particularly active in the DNA database and in employing DNA science. It is using something called STRs, short tandem strands of DNA that are more specific than the tools we are using today. If we use STRs, the short tandem strands of DNA, it is a much more effective tool in making a stronger more specific analysis of the DNA at the site of a crime.
We need to look at other flaws with respect to using DNA. Usually, as I mentioned before, not enough DNA is collected. It is not collected in a timely fashion. It is not collected at the scene of the crime and it is not processed in a timely fashion.
All those can be taken and used. If they are used can we imagine the savings in money and in time in police investigations? In the building and construction of a DNA databank we could have a mass of information that could be used to expeditiously convict a person guilty in the commission of a crime.
We need to learn not only from our experience in Canada which is in its infancy. We also need to look at the United States and in particular at the United Kingdom which have led the way in using DNA as a scientific tool against the war on crime.
It is important for us to look at the motions in Group No. 6, to utilize them and to adopt them to build upon Bill C-3. It is also useful for us to look at Bill C-3 to make sure that DNA can be taken from all those who are charged for the reasons I mentioned before.
Again, collect at the crime scene, use better specimen collection and preservation, and apply it not only to violent offenders. Why do we not apply it to non-violent offences too? What is the problem? If we are interested in the pursuit of justice, if we are interested in the pursuit of truth and if we are interested in making sure that the guilty are convicted and that the innocent are released, why do we not use the DNA databank for those individuals too?
The cost of crime within our society is estimated at roughly $48 billion a year. What is the cost for us of not convicting the guilty? What is the cost of having the guilty released and running amok? All those things are important for us to take into consideration when we are trying to build Bill C-3 into a better bill for all individuals concerned.
I would also like to deal with the charter issue. It is important for us to look at the charter to make sure, when it comes time to revisit it, that the charter can be utilized and changed to ensure that good bills like a modified Bill C-3 are allowed to go through and that charter challenges do not get in the way of the pursuit of justice.
Too many times we have seen situations where individuals who were charged with crimes, who were patently guilty, got off scot-free because of a charter challenge, a loophole that prevents the guilty from being convicted and put in a situation where they will not prey upon innocent civilians.
In closing, I hope the government takes it upon itself to pass the motions in Group No. 6 to build a better Bill C-3. We look forward to its responses in the near future.