Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege for me today to speak to Bill C-3 which provides for the establishment of a national DNA data bank.
The DNA identification act will make Canada one of only a handful of countries in the world to have a national DNA data bank. I am pleased to inform the House that the ground breaking legislation this measure supports will signify Canada as a mover in the world community on a very special base as one of a handful of countries that has gone forward with this type of legislation.
This new legislation strengthens our commitment to combat crime, especially violent crime in Canada. The plan that was developed early in July 1995 gave provincial judges the power o put together warrants which allowed police, after they collected samples, to identify people who had committed serious offences. We have stepped forward today by adding a law which will usefully put together a framework for DNA samples in a data bank.
This is another concrete step toward protecting Canadians from violent criminals. We should make no mistake. Bill C-3 gives Canadian police access to a powerful tool in its fight against crime. As we all know, forensic DNA analysis has been instrumental in securing convictions. It has also been crucial in helping to exonerate wrongly condemned people, but it also raises potential privacy and charter concerns because it has the ability to reveal much more of a person than what a fingerprint would reveal.
Given the magnitude of these issues surrounded by the use or potential misuse of DNA information, the government has taken steps to ensure that a detailed and careful study of the legislation has taken place.
The legislation was referred to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights before second reading. The government also went to Canadians to hear what they wanted to say. Bill C-3 reflects the views of Canadians across the country. The reflections came from a broad spectrum of Canadians which included police associations, victims groups, legal organizations, provincial attorneys general, academics, privacy experts and medical people. The committee was vigilant in making sure it heard from those with concerns over the charter and from those whose overriding concern was public safety. The goal has always been to protect Canadians from violent criminals.
Some other issues were discussed as well. The data bank will include two indexes: a scene of the crime index containing DNA profiles from actual crime scenes and a convicted offenders index containing profiles of offenders convicted of designated offences. With this structure, stored DNA information can be cross-referenced in order to identify linkages and to help solve serious crimes in any police jurisdiction anywhere in the country.
Sharing information is the key to successful arrests of offenders. Bill C-3 sets out the circumstances where samples can be taken and stored in a data bank. Where a person has been convicted of a primary designated offence the court will, except in most exceptional circumstances, make an order requiring that person to submit bodily substances for data bank purposes. Where a person has been convicted of a secondary designated offence and where the crown makes an application to the court, the bill lets the judge make an order requiring the offender to provide bodily substances for DNA banking purposes. In making that order the court must satisfy that it has the interest of administration and justice in order.
The primary and secondary designated offences listed in the bill were developed on the basis of the serious nature of the offences and the likelihood of finding DNA evidence at the scene of the crime. DNA samples are most likely to be found at crime scenes of primary offences like those of murder and sexual assault. On the other hand, DNA evidence is less likely to be found at the scenes of secondary offence crimes such as those of robbery or arson.
Taking samples after an offender has been convicted balances an overriding concern for the safety of all Canadians. It also takes into account the need to respect the rights protected by Canada's charter. The accused has the right to presume innocence and protection from unreasonable search and seizure. I think members would agree with that statement.
The issue of when DNA samples should be taken has garnered much attention throughout the development of the bill. The vast majority of Canadians we spoke with said that taking samples from convicted persons is the only way to respect the rights of all Canadians under the charter. The majority of those consulted also took the position that taking samples at the time of arrest or charge would pose a very serious risk of being struck down as unconstitutional. Legal experts from the Department of Justice and three of Canada's most eminent justices have told the government that taking samples before a conviction would be unconstitutional. I think we can all agree developing legislation that will be thrown out by the courts is not useful for the justice system and not useful for Canadians who look to parliament to develop appropriate legislation.
Bill C-3 will not only capture serious offenders following conviction. It will also permit DNA samples to be collected from high risk violent offenders under penitentiary sentence who were convicted before the bill comes into law. Samples will be taken retroactively from the designations of dangerous offenders, repeated sex offenders and murderers who have killed more than once. Collection of DNA samples from these offenders will give police valuable information to help them solve outstanding criminal cases.
Young offenders will be treated in the same way as adults with respect to taking DNA samples for the purpose of data banking. The DNA extracted from a sample will be analysed with the resulting profile entered into the convicted offenders index of the data bank.
Bill C-3 authorizes the RCMP to establish and maintain a data bank. It is worth noting that access to DNA profiles contained in the convicted offenders index and the samples themselves will be strictly limited to those directly involved in the operation of the data bank.
There is no question that this law is very appropriate at this time. It will provide a service to Canadian police officers so that they will be able to pursue and follow up in a much more scientific way on actions of violent crime in the country. I recommend that every member of the House support the bill in the name of criminal justice.