Mr. Speaker, I agreed to speak on Bill C-18 concerning the amendment to the criminal code, because it was impossible for me to remain silent in face of a somewhat hateful bill.
For some reason that is totally unknown to me and that seems totally unfounded and nonsensical, the Minister of Justice strikes again, with a bill in which she wants to amend the criminal code to provide a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for an impaired driver involved in an accident causing the death of another person.
This bill also wants to provide for the taking of blood samples for the purpose of testing for the presence of drugs.
In looking at the nature of the debate we are having today, where only the Bloc Quebecois feels the need to speak out and to alert the people against this hateful bill, I realize once again that Quebec is a distinct society. If we were still looking for reasons to leave Canada, we just found a new one. Canada and Quebec are not on the same wavelength on such an important bill for society.
I certainly do not want to underestimate the importance of an accident involving an impaired driver who causes the death of another person. A death, no matter the circumstances, is always sad and painful, but when it is caused by an impaired driver, the loss seems even more terrible.
So, we do not want to diminish the gravity of the offence, but I want to pause to reflect on the issue.
When the Prime Minister introduced in the House his famous notion of a distinct society for Quebec—and he still blames us for voting against it—he was told “Mr. Prime Minister, what you are proposing is an empty shell”.
Quebec is a distinct society, but it can never express its distinctiveness. It is not allowed to be distinct. There is a move toward increasingly centralized policies, toward wall to wall policies. Provincial jurisdiction is increasingly being encroached upon. In spite of all that, Quebec feels more and more distinct. The more we learn of the values of Canadian society, the more concerned we are about the future of Quebec's society.
I do not wish to make an issue of this, but let me point out that the Minister is, first and foremost, a member from western Canada. In western Canada, the Liberal Party has a fierce opponent. It used to be called the Reform Party. It is now called the Canadian Alliance.
Since 1993, we in the Bloc Quebecois have seen how the Liberal government, which used to be a progressive government—not as in Progressive Conservative, but progressive in the real meaning of the word—which went ahead with forward-looking policies became backward-looking. It is turned more toward the 19th century, while we are steaming full speed ahead into the 21st century with all the tools the new technology has to offer.
This government is asking the wrong questions. Let us try to find out which ones. What do Quebec and Canadian societies want? They want their politicians to give them laws that will ensure the betterment of society, and not laws that will make life in society increasingly difficult and stifling.
What has happened so far? We have the criminal code. Currently, when an individual drives a vehicle while impaired, and unfortunately causes an accident which results in a fatality, the criminal code provides that the judge may sentence this individual to 14 years in prison. To this day, no judge has ever sentenced anyone to more than 10 years. And it was such an accomplishment it made the headlines across the country, pointing out that, at long last, a judge had dared give 10 years for impaired driving causing death.
Why, when nothing more than a 10 year sentence has ever been imposed, suddenly come up with a measure expected to be more effective because it provides for life imprisonment? What does society want? What values underlie this specific measure? Is our role as politicians to find a way to avenge what happened to someone else in society? Must we only advocate a punitive, coercive approach? Is this really the reason why we exist as a parliament?
Or do we not, on the contrary, want to educate our fellow citizens by teaching them a value such as moderation? Quebec's liquor board, the Société des alcools, sponsored a campaign to encourage people to drink with moderation. The campaign's theme “La modération a bien meilleur goût” was displayed everywhere, along highways, in newspapers and magazines and on the television and radio.
While alcohol sales and profits did not go down, Quebecers' behaviour changed. Now, when you entertain guests at home, it is not rare to hear someone say “I will only have juice or Perrier water, because I am the designated driver”.
Countries such as Sweden introduced educational and progressive measures to improve the situation. But here we want to punish people, we seek vengeance.
That approach will not work, as evidenced by the research done. All the criminologists in the world will tell you that putting people in prison is not the solution. On the contrary, we should find ways and pass legislation that will help us create public awareness, and invest money in educational programs and initiatives designed to make people more responsible.
What does Operation Nez Rouge do in Quebec? It is a huge success. That initiative is now beginning to spread to Ontario and the maritime provinces. What does Operation Nez Rouge do? It tells people “Do not forget, it is important to celebrate, but if you drink, do not drive; we will drive you home for free”.
We can pass legislation to influence the public for the better. The goal of members of parliament should not be to use public funds to build more prisons.
What is the Minister of Justice doing now with her criminal code reform? She must be on the verge of sending kindergarten kids to prison. She is not pleased to see that our own reform in Quebec is successful with young offenders. She wants to undermine our efforts. It is just one more reason to get out of this country.
Bill C-18 will lead us nowhere. If this bill is passed in its original form, we will negate the specific nature of this offence and create a serious imbalance in our criminal justice system. The most important question we should ask about this reform of the criminal code is whether we really want what is best for the offender who has a bad habit of drinking and driving, or if we want to fight the political right on its own turf and win more votes in the next election by promoting harsh punishments that are out of proportion with the offence.
Let nobody be mistaken. I do think impaired driving is a serious offence. It is an action that cannot be rationalized. We have a hard time accepting it, but we should be helping people get rid of that bad habit instead of punishing them and locking them up for the rest of their life.
This reminds me of the answer the solicitor general gave me this afternoon during question period when I asked how the public could understand what was going on. I said “Thanks to the parole program, about one hundred Rock Machine members will soon be released from prison. How can we possibly allow crime gang members to benefit from a reintegration measure such as parole, when we are well aware that as soon as they get out of prison they will go to war against another crime gang?” The minister stood up and replied that I should not worry, that everything is under control, saying “My hon. colleague is well aware that whenever anybody receives parole, it is granted through the National Parole Board. This is an arm's length body that reviews all the information and public safety is always the number one issue”. All is well; if they are out it is because they are not dangerous. Those are the regulations and we respect regulations.
However, everyone knows that any member of a crime gang who gets out of prison will be a worse offender than before, because a prison is no place for rehabilitation, and he will be very happy to resume his position within the gang and wage war against other gangs.
When they talk about life imprisonment for people who are in a car accident, we have to wonder why. I am no expert on the criminal code or criminal law, but I know there are two things in the code. There are people sentenced to 25 years imprisonment without eligibility for parole and there are people sentenced to life.
There seems to be a difference. I hope somebody will explain the difference to me someday so I can understand, but I have been told that there is a difference between the two and that, in this case, someone who is sentenced to life imprisonment could, depending on the conditions set by the judge, serve only a few years because he would be eligible to parole after serving a third of his sentence.
I wonder why we go to so much trouble to pass such hypocritical bills. Although judges can now sentence people to 14 years, they usually sentence them to two, three or four years. There is one exception, a 10 year sentence.
There is also one thing one must not forget. The crime rate is dropping in Canada, as statistics show clearly. The proportion of individuals who were incarcerated after being convicted of impaired driving decreased in 1994-95 and 1997-98. Thus, within three years, the proportion of incriminated individuals went from 22% to 19%. Most prison terms in these cases are less than two years.
Why legislate to allow life imprisonment, if the courts are not willing to fully use the instruments they already have? Although impaired driving causing death is an offence of considerable importance, it is wrong to claim that we are currently faced with a huge upturn in its figures.
In 1998, only 103 people in Canada were charged with impaired driving causing death. Hon. members will respond that this is 103 people too many, which it is, but putting those 103 in prison for 25 years is not the way to help the 100 more who will come along the following year and be found guilty.
Educational measures must be found so that society can be changed rather than punished, so that there is education rather than revenge. Canada has become a champion as far as putting people in jail is concerned, just behind the United States. This is hardly a record of which to be proud.
As far as the incarceration rate is concerned, we rank second in the entire world. I think our Prime Minister would be delighted if he were able to say we were 180th. For once, being last would be a good thing. Instead of being first, we are second, with no one higher than us but the Americans. It is a shame. Canada uses imprisonment twice as often as most European countries.
In this connection, the supreme court was very clear, and I quote an excerpt from the judgment in G ladue :
Canada is a world leader in many fields, particularly in the areas of progressive social policy and human rights
I myself pointed this out at the start of my remarks. I continue quoting:
Unfortunately, our country is also distinguished as being a world leader in putting people in prison. Although the United States has by far the highest rate of incarceration among industrialized democracies, at over 600 inmates per 100,000 population, Canada's rate of approximately 130 inmates per 100,000 population places it second or third highest. Moreover, the rate at which Canadian courts have been imprisoning offenders has risen sharply in recent years, although there has been a slight decline of late.
All the measures that the Minister of Justice has proposed since she assumed this position are such that we are looking at increasing numbers of incarcerations. Is it the aim of the Prime Minister to surpass the United States in numbers of prisoners? It would be interesting to have him tell us in the next election that his aim is to put as many Canadians as possible behind bars and, if possible, not too many Liberals, because he wants to win his election.
I had prepared a much longer speech on this bill, which I find extremely painful and difficult to understand and which will long be hard to swallow.
We will have an election campaign in which we will remind the people that this government is hateful and insensitive, right of centre and bringing us more violence than what we have at the moment, because its model seems to be the American society. In matters of values, Quebec is apart.
We want an educational approach. We want rehabilitation. Once again, I repeat, I am pleased to note that you are giving us one more reason to bow out.