Debates of Feb. 14th, 2003

Taxation

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, after hearing an answer like that I think Don Cherry would agree we have to do something about concussions in this league too.

We know the Minister of Finance wanted to help the Ottawa Senators. He picked up the phone to call a bank president to bail them out. The bank said no and it looks like the minister said yes. There is still time for common sense to prevail here. We are in sudden death overtime and it is called the budget.

Will the minister tell us today he will put a stop to this corporate giveaway on Tuesday or will he just tell taxpayers to puck off?

[Colleen Beaumier, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure what part of this the hon. member did not understand, but let me repeat it.

Decisions on these matters are made in a professional manner based solely on the law. Let me reassure the member, there is not, nor has there ever been, any political influence brought to bear on these rulings.

National Security

[Bill Casey, Progressive Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday when I asked a question of the Minister of Transport I got a misleading answer. Perhaps he would like to correct it.

I asked a question about a number of jobs that were advertised by his department. In the ad, under who can apply, it stated only those people with postal codes in the immediate Ottawa area. His answer was that all Canadians are equal no matter where they come from in the country and they will be considered for any position. Both these answers cannot be right.

He cannot say that everyone can apply and the advertisement say that only those in the Ottawa area can apply. Did the minister mislead the House or does the ad mislead the Canadians?

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague did not mislead the House. I think the member has to be fair. He knows quite well that hiring in the public service is in the hands of the Public Service Commission, which is an agency that reports directly to Parliament.

We are working with the Public Service Commission right now, and with other parliamentarians, to try to improve the system. We all know that right now there are some pilot projects in the system to help to extend the area of selection. That is why I do not think that his question was very fair to my colleague.

Publishing Industry

[Loyola Hearn, Progressive Conservative, St. John's West, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Canadian Heritage's book publishing industry development program provides financial assistance to publishers for Canadian authored books. Publishers have to recognize the assistance of the federal government by placing the specified text at the front of the books.

Will the Minister of Canadian Heritage tell us why the Government of Canada subsidized the publishing of the best selling Harry Potter series, a series that has sold over 192 million copies worldwide and was written by a British author?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Actually, Mr. Speaker, the Harry Potter series is not eligible for book publishing support under the book publishing system.

Justice

[Jay Hill, Canadian Alliance, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in Vancouver, Joel Libin, a 16 year old teenager, was brutally beaten while walking home one evening, leaving him with permanent brain damage. The two youths involved in this attack pleaded guilty, but were granted conditional sentences of only 18 months of house arrest.

Rather than continuing to review the matter, as the parliamentary secretary has stated, why does the government not commit to tabling legislation here and now to ensure criminals do serious time for serious crime?

[Paul MacKlin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as I previously mentioned, conditional sentencing is one area that we have used over the last six years with some degree of success.

Clearly, it seems that the courts are finding ways to use it successfully. There has been an experience that has indicated that about 17% of people who would otherwise have been incarcerated are effectively dealt with through this process.

We are concerned about the victims, but in fact, we have to look at the entire program. The committee is now doing so and we await its report.

[Dick Harris, Canadian Alliance, Prince George—Bulkley Valley, BC]

What nonsense, Mr. Speaker. Here is another one that Bill C-20 does not cover.

A Calgary man was convicted of manslaughter after killing his infant daughter by snapping her spine. He received a conditional sentence of house arrest.

Will the minister listen to Canadians and introduce legislation that would ensure minimum jail sentences be imposed on people who commit such heinous crimes? Is it possible he can do that?

[Paul MacKlin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as I have clearly said today in the House, conditional sentencing serves a very good purpose within our judicial system.

There are exceptional cases. There are cases that need to be attended to and looked at. The minister has raised this with the justice committee. In fact, the standing committee is looking at that matter now and will bring a report to the House. Then we will do a proper assessment as to whether there should be changes.

Taxation

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, having tried three years ago to help professional hockey teams and the Senators, and having recently called the president of the CIBC, now the Deputy Prime Minister is prepared to take $60 million from taxpayers' pockets to keep the team in Ottawa, at all cost.

Does the minister not understand that taxpayers do not want the government to give money to a professional hockey team whose most obscure player earns more than the Prime Minister of Canada?

[Colleen Beaumier, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, that is a preposterous accusation.

Just to make things clear I will repeat this one more time. Decisions on these matters are made in a professional manner. The government does not interfere in this process.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I do not think anyone will take issue with my next question.

The Minister of Finance is trying to do indirectly what he cannot do directly. Can the Minister of Finance assure us that there is no way our money will be used to save a professional hockey team whose players are millionaires?

[Colleen Beaumier, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, this is not a debate. This is the time for questions and answers and I have just answered the question.

Child Pornography

[Larry Spencer, Canadian Alliance, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

Mr. Speaker, Roger Williams was convicted of possessing over 300 images of child pornography. His sentence? Just two years probation and 100 hours community service.

Bill C-20 does not address this. Higher maximum sentences will not help as long as pornographers continue to receive sentences of house arrest and community service.

When will the minister quit defending these criminals and introduce legislation to ensure that child pornographers at least receive a minimum jail sentence?

[Paul MacKlin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, we have been working very diligently with respect to the matter of child pornography within this country.

We have some of the toughest child pornography laws in the world. The fact is that we have more legislation before the House in Bill C-20, again increasing penalties and providing more limitations on defences against those who would be involved in child pornography. The reality is the government is working hard to protect its children and it will continue to do so.

Justice

[James Lunney, Canadian Alliance, Nanaimo—Alberni, BC]

It is working hard in the wrong direction, Mr. Speaker.

This week, Air India bomber, Inderjit Singh Reyat, was awarded a five year sentence. He is eligible for parole in 10 months. For the death of 329 people, he will serve time in a federal facility equipped with a billiard table, tennis court, jogging path and a golf course, which the Solicitor General says is not a club fed.

It has taken 18 years to bring this murderer to justice. Is it any wonder Canadians have lost confidence in the justice system?

When will the government ensure that criminals face serious consequences for serious crimes?

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I know the member opposite is referring to some of the things that have been said in the press but the fact is that Correctional Service Canada will do an assessment on this individual regardless of what the judges ruled on this. It will do an assessment of this individual and will place him where it sees fit based on that assessment.

Bill C-10

[Julian Reed, Liberal, Halton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question if for the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice.

The House may be called upon to concur or reject Senate amendments to Bill C-10, the cruelty to animals and firearms bill.

Could the parliamentary secretary please explain to the House what the advantages would be to Canadians for accepting the Senate amendments to Bill C-10 rather than having them rejected?

[Paul MacKlin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the process of gun control, it is very important that we start to reduce the costs. Bill C-10A is an excellent way of starting that process.

When dealing with Bill C-10A, it also deals with efficiencies and the efficiencies are simplifying the licensing process in terms of renewals, staggering renewals, more use of the Internet, establishing pre-clearance processes for those who want to come over to this country to use our outfitters and hunting establishments, and streamlining transfers from one to another. It is an excellent--

[The Deputy Speaker]

The hon. member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke.

Justice

[Cheryl Gallant, Canadian Alliance, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, a 58 year old man was found guilty of raping a young girl and was sentenced to two years of house arrest. He is allowed to leave his house and go to work even though the crime that he committed was done while he was at work. Bill C-20 does not address this.

Will the minister commit to eliminating conditional sentencing for criminals convicted of violent sexual offences?

[Paul MacKlin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, all types of criminal offences over the course of time are reviewed and the sentencing that is applicable to them is reviewed.

As I have mentioned earlier in the House, on conditional sentencing, the matter has been referred to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. It is conducting a full and complete review and will report to the minister. We will see if any assessments or revisions are needed at that point.

Child Pornography

[David Anderson, Canadian Alliance, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Mr. Speaker, it goes on and on. A Moncton man was convicted of possession of child pornography and trading child porn on the Internet. Current legislation has no minimum standards so, no surprise, he was handed a six month conditional sentence. He goes home to his hard drive.

The new child porn bill, Bill C-20, does not provide minimum sentencing for these crimes.

Will the minister commit today to amend Bill C-20 to require minimum jail sentences for child pornographers?

[Paul MacKlin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, it is quite clear that within our justice system we like to have the judges, who understand and know all the facts and circumstances of the case, weigh those in each individual case.

One of the problems with minimum sentencing is that many times there are unintended consequences. We do not wish to go there unless it is absolutely necessary. All the law reform commissions have recommended that we should not have much in the way of minimum sentencing and therefore we try to minimize them.

We are waiting for the committee to make its decision and bring forward its report. The minister will assess it and see where he may go.