Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague makes a very good point. The criminal element does have more rights than the victims. That is why we brought in the victims bill of rights several years ago. The Liberals swept it under the rug and refused to bring it back to parliament. It was a bill that was passed with huge support in this House. I do not know why it has been stalled.
Criminals today have access to all kinds of money for their defence but the victims have access to virtually nothing. The criminal is read all of his rights. He is told all about the wonderful programs that are available and all the things that he has access to, such as legal aid and so on. The victims have access to none of them. The victims have to constantly contact the courts and the police to find out what is happening in a particular case and how the people who have committed the horrific crime against them are treated. Those are just two examples of how the criminal in our society is almost elevated and given all these wonderful rights and the victim is given nothing.
When those criminals get into prison I cannot believe some of the things that are given to them that the rest of the people even in my little community never enjoy. Golf courses, wonderful pool tables, terrific training facilities, cable TV, health and dental services, all of these things that they assume are their right. I could not believe that some of them live at a standard that is higher than the seniors in my community. Fourteen wonderful cottages. The only responsibility they have other than making sure they clean the microwave and that the TV is turned off at night is to keep it clean. Seniors in my hometown shake their heads when they see the type of facilities that are provided for these people.
We have to seriously question the justice system that allows this injustice to take place.