Mr. Speaker, I too support the bill proposed by the hon. member for New Westminster—Coquitlam—Burnaby, Bill C-258. I will keep my comments rather brief and to the point through a personal story.
If there is every a place that you do not want to meet somebody it is at a hearing involving a section 745 case. Unfortunately that is where I met one of my constituents for the first time, Mr. Ray King. Mr. King is the father of one of Olson's victims.
Mr. King came to me prior to that case and shared with me the years of anguish he went through personally as a result of the incident that unfortunately happened to his son.
That is what this is about. We have heard in the House today philosophical difference. There certainly is a very big philosophical difference. This philosophical difference has a dramatic impact on individual lives, Mr. King's life being a clear example of that.
I will read into the record a few of the comments made by Mr. King and the anguish that he shared personally and publicly in this process he had to go through:
The nightmares that had been absent in my life for several years returned (after going through this process).
We get a life sentence too. And it doesn't end after 15 years or 20 years. Having those victim impact statements read aloud in the presence of this person was the ultimate obscenity. Throughout it all, the grin never left his face.
I found it impossible to make any sense of the fact that this person, who had taken away our right to see our children grow up to adulthood, should demand and be afforded concessions.
This is the heart rending situation in this section 745 case and this bill. It is not understandable why this bill is not votable today.
The parliamentary secretary mentioned the changes the government has made. I think she said it goes against government policy, therefore it is not in favour of it. It is simply bad policy. It is bad legislation.
We have to ask ourselves on this side and individuals across Canada have to ask themselves is this government willing to accept bad policy and bad law which negatively affects individuals across this country. We must conclude by the actions and the statements made here today by members on the government side that it is the case. That is a sad commentary on the state of this government and its response to the criminal justice system.
Mr. King's comments are comments I will never forget. I was an 18 year old in Coquitlam where Olson was when his reign of terror was going on. I have mentioned that in the House before and I mention it again because I know personally the fear that gripped the community. I also many years later was in the unfortunate circumstance of having to hear Mr. King's tragedy and the loss that changed his life forever. It is not fair to put individuals, not one individual Canadian, through that experience.
If this government had the initiative to remove section 745 not one Canadian would have to go through what Mr. King went through. That is the tragedy we are talking about.