Mr. Speaker, I rise today to lend my support to Bill C-3, the DNA identification act.
Bill C-3, as it stands now, is a good first step in increasing public safety for all Canadians. Protecting Canadians is and always has been a priority for this government. I feel that the DNA database that will be created as a result of this bill will help police fulfil both aspects of their jobs. It will help them to protect Canadians while upholding the law.
Extensive consultation went into the creation of this bill. Law enforcement officers, legal experts and those concerned with the protection of privacy all contributed to Bill C-3. The bill has been drafted to reflect their contributions and their concerns.
Granted, there are those who argued and who continue to argue that Bill C-3 needs to be stronger, that DNA samples should be taken at the time of arrest. I have felt this way too. However, in responding to this argument there are a few things to keep in mind.
First, in order for this DNA databank to be effective in increasing public safety, it must be developed in accordance with the Constitution. One former justice and two former chief justices all agreed that taking DNA samples on arrest or charge without prior judicial authorization would be unconstitutional. These legal experts and others have all said that if Bill C-3 were amended to allow DNA samples to be taken at the time of arrest or charge the legislation would be found to be unconstitutional.
If this bill were to violate the Constitution it would fail, criminals would go free and this entire process of researching, drafting, amending and debating Bill C-3 would have been a complete waste of our time and of taxpayer money.
Second, we must remember that the Criminal Code already allows the police to take a DNA sample from a person at the time of charge or any other time as long as they obtain a warrant to do so. This legislation introduced in 1995 has been praised by the Supreme Court of Canada and has survived constitutional challenges to date.
Bill C-3 builds on the existing legislation by allowing samples to be taken from individuals once they are convicted of serious offences, including murder, sexual assault or break and enter, all heinous crimes.
The bill also allows for samples to be taken retroactively from those deemed to be dangerous offenders and from those convicted of more than one sexual offence or murder. These are the criminals who could very well have committed crimes other than those they were convicted for.
We owe it to the victims and to their families to explore every single option in catching the criminals who hurt them. The retroactive taking of samples will enable us to see if the criminal responsible has already been caught. Just think of the peace of mind that victims and their families would have once they knew that the criminal responsible for hurting them or their loved ones had already been convicted and was behind bars.
Third, taking fingerprints and the collection of DNA samples are not the same. We all know that police take fingerprints at the time of arrest. However, the Supreme Court of Canada considers the taking of bodily samples to be a search. To allow a sample to be taken based on a police officer's belief that a person is guilty of a given crime without the permission of a judge would be a warrantless search or seizure and therefore unconstitutional.
Finally, Bill C-3 is an important first step. This is ground breaking legislation that requires a cautious approach. Once this has been put into practice and tested we may be able to proceed further. Taking samples for the databank when a criminal is convicted as opposed to when a suspect is charged will not prevent the police from doing their job. On the contrary, it will provide them with an important and effective investigative tool that will allow them to do their job which is, as I mentioned previously, to protect Canadians and public safety and to uphold the law.
Bill C-3 is a good start. Under this legislation young offenders will be treated in the same way as adults with the exception that their DNA profiles will be retained for a shorter period of time. This is in keeping with the length of time for which their police record is retained.
Bill C-3 allows law enforcement officers in Canada to co-operate with their colleagues in other countries for the purpose of criminal investigation. This will allow Canadian police to access information in foreign DNA databanks to help solve crimes committed here in Canada and vice-versa.
As a parent I would never support a piece of legislation that I felt would put my family at risk. As the member of parliament for Guelph—Wellington I would not support Bill C-3 if I thought it would not protect my neighbours and my community. I am not one to be soft on crime or on criminals. I firmly believe that people who are guilty should serve hard time if they have committed a serious offence.
However, I also believe that a person is innocent until proven guilty. Canada is a democracy based on the principles of peace, order and good government. The UN has recognized our great nation as being the best country in the world because of the wide range of opportunity and high standard of living we provide to our citizens. To create a law that would violate someone's basic human rights would not only be unconstitutional, it would be un-Canadian. That is something I could not support.
This is a good piece of legislation, one that will work to further protect public safety for all Canadians and one that will withstand legal scrutiny. It will make the streets of Guelph—Wellington safer for my family, my neighbours and my entire community. It will do the same for all communities right across this great land of ours.
It is an important first step, one that I hope the government will build on and I look forward to all members of parliament supporting the legislation.