Madam Speaker, I would like to clarify for the people at home that I am generally in favour of setting up a DNA databank. I think it makes a lot of sense.
When fingerprints were first brought in, they helped solve a lot of crimes that previously were unsolvable. Having our DNA databank will give us the technological tools to solve crimes that right now we do not have the capability for. As a result it is generally a good idea. But the problem with Bill C-3 as it stands is that it does not give the government as many opportunities as it would otherwise have with some of the Reform amendments and others across the way to go ahead and break these crimes, get these criminals convicted and incarcerate them.
In the first grouping of amendments, Motions Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 5, the first amendment by an hon. member from the Bloc is with regard to the respect of privacy. Unfortunately I am not going to be able to support my Bloc colleague on this because it basically precludes us from having access to information that we would otherwise possibly need.
So even though it is something done with respect to privacy I would have a tough time in some of these circumstances to look a victim of rape in the eye and because of a lack of due process or some problem that would be laid out in this amendment be able to say that because of a technicality the offender walked free. Therefore I am not going to be able to support the Bloc member on Motion No. 1.
Motion No. 2, proposed by an NDP colleague, precludes private agencies and labs from taking samples and creates public standards and better accuracy of testing quality. I believe these types of DNA materials or DNA information should be kept by the government. I would have some problems with it being doled out to somebody or any group willy-nilly. As a result I support this NDP motion.
The only concern I have with this motion is that I hope, if indeed private laboratories become more advanced than the public ones we have for DNA identification and information gathering, that this will not preclude the use of some of the advanced techniques that private labs may have access to above and beyond the public ones, if that happens. I think it would be a real travesty if we were to prevent justice from having access to advanced techniques that may be available in the private sector that would not possibly be available at that time in the public sector. On that level that is the only caution I give to NDP Motion No. 2.
Motion No. 3 is to safeguard against wrong persons accessing the DNA databank. This again speaks to the first motion. Once again it is from my hon. colleague from the Bloc. We have to make sure there is privacy and this information is not doled out to anybody. It is something used almost exclusively for this criminal work and nobody else has access to it unless they are actually doing work with regard to the investigation of a crime.
Motion No. 5 is basically viewed as a make work amendment in that it asks for a three year review. If we are able to get some of these amendments on the national databank passed then we are not going to have to worry about as many reviews of the legislation in the process if we set it up right in the first place.
Speaking to the generalities of these four motions in the first group motions and how they impact the bill as a whole, we are looking to set up a registration system so that we can track those offenders, those violent criminals, and prosecute and convict them where possible. The government has no problem going ahead and registering people, law-abiding citizens, with Bill C-68. On firearms certainly there should not be a problem with being able to give the necessary tools even above and beyond what we have here in Bill C-3, to enhance the ability of police officers to go ahead and convict.
Some of these suggestions were provided to us by the Canadian Police Association. It is not just the Reform Party standing here in the House today asking for increased powers and expanding jurisdiction of some of these things so that the national DNA databank can be more effective.
The police and their representative, the Canadian Police Association, are asking for some of these things.
These are reasons why some of these amendments need to be included and why the DNA databank needs to be as effective as possible. We would see a reduced cost of enforcement of the law and a greater ability to convict. There would be an increased effectiveness of the enforcement of the law. We believe in public safety. We believe people deserve a sense of security. We should not be instilling a false sense of security. We should make this as effective as we can.
We do not believe in depriving the police, the RCMP or the respective municipal police forces, the tools necessary to to conduct their work in criminal investigations and violations of the Criminal Code.
This will be bar none the most effective thing that has been changed with regard to the justice system in the collection of evidence since the introduction of finger prints. Finger prints with their oils would probably leave some skin samples to enact some DNA information gathering. It has expanded beyond the oils that are left on one's fingers and skin samples to hair and in the case of sexual crimes semen samples and blood samples. All these things are now available to us to test and determine. No one else in the world will have the same DNA of a criminal left at the scene of the crime.
The gist of this is good but half measures are not good enough. That is why we have to make changes to this bill to make sure that it is better than what it is. Because of DNA people who are innocent and who have been charged with a crime will not be convicted wrongly. It is the innocent who will triumph in this. They will be vindicated by DNA information gathering. If they were not at the scene of the crime, it will be that much more easily ascertained.
I leave this caution with the government. We ask some of the fundamental questions of cost, who wants it and other questions I have asked before in this Chamber. The cost of our not making these amendments to make this as effective as possible and to expand the range of the collection of DNA evidence will mean some people will walk free when they are criminals and should not be walking free.
Who wants it? Obviously not only the police officers who enforce the law and the people who want to see justice but also the victims who would see some of their perpetrators walk free.
For the victims, for the Canadian Police Association, the police officers, for the law-abiding citizens who want to see justice served and a more effective justice system, we need to enact some of these changes. We need to make sure that Bill C-3 does not go through without serious questioning and without making it the best that it could be.