Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for Rosemont--Petite-Patrie for the presentation he gave today. As I am about to oppose the position he has taken, I want to make it clear that I am not against his ideas or his intention. It is just that I believe that Canadian citizens already enjoy all the legislation and protection needed against torture. Let me explain what I mean.
I am pleased to reflect and acknowledge that the position as presented by the member for Barrie--Simcoe--Bradford reflects a similar position.
It is important to know first of all that Canada is a signatory to the UN convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment. The UN convention takes a fairly clear and somewhat narrower definition of torture. If Canada were to ratify any convention on torture, there should be one guiding definition to avoid conflicts as complications could arise.
Acts that would constitute true torture are already illegal in Canada. Those protections are clearly in place. To use a broader or another definition contained in the other convention referred to by the member would add difficulties and could open up a whole new set of challenges to enforcing the very laws we have in place now. A complication could ironically be used in favour of the person possibly committing an act of torture.
If we were to ratify this other convention that is being talked about rather than sticking with the UN convention which has been signed by our government, the implications on Canada's police and correctional services alone could be significantly negatively impacted. There is a proper balance that must be maintained.
We do not in this country condone excessive acts by police or correctional personnel and there are ways in which that can mitigated, stopped and prosecuted. In fact in our history we have done that on different occasions.
Using the definition as brought forward by the mover of the motion one could imagine a situation where a female corrections officer in imminent danger of being overpowered by a deranged attacker would not have the ability to protect herself from that attack without the possible use of some kind of restraint, maybe a spray of some type. In that situation, looking at the definition here, the method of subduing the person temporarily could fall within the definition of being a means of torture because the person would be incapacitated physically while the police officer went about her duties of gaining control of the situation. That is one example where broadening the definition could create difficulties in terms of a person's own protection.
It is interesting to note, as we look at other problems that could arise, that when we have legislation that is less than clear, which we deal with almost every day anyway, an expanded scope and broadened definition of the legislation could be interpreted in ways never intended by the legislators themselves. There are many examples of that.
That could unfortunately result in the perpetrators of crimes of torture being able, in the courts, to avoid proper prosecution because of the broadness of the definition and therefore the ability of their actions to be interpreted in ways other than legislators had originally intended. Perpetrators and those wanting to perpetrate torturous acts on people could take advantage of a broader definition. The victims would then be even more exposed to possible torture or inhuman acts than ever was intended.
For these reasons alone and for reasons clearly articulated by the hon. member for Barrie--Simcoe--Bradford I appreciate the intent of the particular motion. It is well founded but not as well grounded as it could be. Therefore I have brought forward the Canadian Alliance point of view on why we would have concerns related to this particular motion.