House of Commons Hansard #109 of the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was detainees.

Topics

Citizenship and ImmigrationCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

12:40 p.m.

Liberal

Blair Wilson Liberal West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC

Mr. Speaker, the member has gone to the crux of the matter. Here is the issue that we have to deal with right now. The men are being held as detainees without being able to see the evidence against them, without being able to have their lawyer see the evidence against them, and without being charged of any crime under the Criminal Code.

The government of the day could charge these individuals under the Criminal Code. These detainees could be charged and taken into court and allow the evidence to be heard and be given the same rights that all of us as Canadians enjoy. There is an inequality in the way that this policy is being enacted. That is one of the keys to it.

The minister said that this is a three sided prison. It is not a three sided prison. That is hogwash. These men are being held for an indefinite period of time and if they choose to go back to Syria and Egypt, they will most definitely face torture and their lives will most definitely be at risk.

The minister across knows this full well. The minister stood in the House and ranted and raved against Maher Arar, calling him a terrorist. We all know where that ended up. It has cost the taxpayers of Canada $10.5 million. I fear that the action that the minister is taking right now could very well cost taxpayers more money.

Citizenship and ImmigrationCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

12:40 p.m.

Kootenay—Columbia B.C.

Conservative

Jim Abbott ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage

Mr. Speaker, I find the presentation by the Liberal member absolutely breathtaking. First off, these men were put into their current status by his government six years ago. It is only in the last year that they have decided to go on this hunger strike.

The dire consequences are of their own making. If we are to, as the member put it, save their lives, what are we to do? Are we to overturn what his government undertook six years ago, obviously for good reason, under the direction of the Liberal justice or Solicitor General people in his government? What has changed other than the fact that these men are choosing, making the wilful, intelligent choice, to starve themselves?

I find this totally amazing, and I would also like to correct the member on a couple of things. He said that this was against human rights and against Canadians. He apparently must have been out of the room or did not hear what the minister had to say. In fact, these laws, these provisions, are not against Canadians. They are against people who, in the judgment of the government of the day, the Liberals and now the Conservatives, pose a threat to the well-being and safety of people in Canada. The law is not against Canadians.

Furthermore, I point out, as the minister did earlier, and perhaps the member did not hear, that the courts have taken a look at this and have said that this complies with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The member is representing the government that put these men in their current status and I find his position immensely hypocritical.

Citizenship and ImmigrationCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

12:45 p.m.

Liberal

Blair Wilson Liberal West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC

Mr. Speaker, I must say it is a little rich listening to the Conservative member on the opposite side lecture the House on civil liberties when he is now informing the government that is keeping these men incarcerated.

I would also like to educate the member a little with respect to the different avenues that are available to the minister and the government right now. We are holding these three men indefinitely in an institution. If he does not understand the human rights and social aspects of it, maybe Conservative members can understand the economic impact. I am talking their language now when I talk about the economic impact. These three men are being incarcerated indefinitely at a cost to the taxpayer of how much? It is costing the taxpayers $2 million a year right now.

Why do we not do something better? Why do we not release these men under house arrest? We can put GPS tags on them, release them on their own recognizance and have their families look after them, just like we have done previously with two other individuals who were held under security certificates. They have been released and are now under house arrest. Who is bearing the cost of that? They and their families are.

If the Conservative government does not understand the impact of human rights violations, they may understand the economics of it and stop paying $2 million a year to house these three men when they could be put under house arrest and be monitored just as well.

Citizenship and ImmigrationCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

12:45 p.m.

Conservative

Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC

Mr. Speaker, it is really rich for the member to suggest after six years, five of which were under the watch of his party's government, that government policy somehow should change.

He made one remark in which he suggested to the Minister of Public Safety that he should be making changes to the system to make it better. My question for the member is this: during the five years that his party was in government and these individuals were detained, why is it that his government did not make a peep and did not make any changes?

Citizenship and ImmigrationCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

12:45 p.m.

Liberal

Blair Wilson Liberal West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC

Mr. Speaker, I would remind the member that we are sitting here before Canadians talking about the present situation. We are talking about the future. That is what is important, not the last five years of fiscal responsibility, of balancing budgets, paying down debt and giving the best economic prosperity to Canadians that they have ever seen.

No, that is not what we are here to talk about. What we are here to talk about is the future of Canadians and the future of our social justice system. We have a law on the books under security certificates that I believe is not balancing the rights of individuals with the rights of the collective. It is our job as parliamentarians to get that balance right. Things change. Time goes on. These men have been held for six and a half years. Their cases should be re-evaluated and the appropriate procedures should be followed.

I hope that all members of the House will listen to the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration and vote in favour of this motion.

Citizenship and ImmigrationCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

12:50 p.m.

Conservative

David Tilson Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON

To return to the motion, Mr. Speaker, as I understand it, the citizenship committee and the members of the opposition want an official known as the Correctional Investigator to have jurisdiction over this matter and do a number of things listed in the motion, including giving these people in custody conjugal rights, access to canteen facilities and a number of other things.

My question for the member is about the fact that the courts, which have already made a determination that these people pose a danger to the national security of Canada, have that right now. They can do those things. Why should this official do them?

Citizenship and ImmigrationCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

12:50 p.m.

Liberal

Blair Wilson Liberal West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC

Mr. Speaker, I would ask the member across the way if he has the opportunity when he is driving to or from his riding, or is around Ottawa, to drive to Kingston to that facility and examine the state that those three men are in right now and how they have to live their lives. They have been incarcerated for six and a half years. Two of the men have been in solitary confinement for two years of those six and a half years. All the time that they are--

Citizenship and ImmigrationCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

12:50 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Royal Galipeau

Order, please. Resuming debate, the hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

Citizenship and ImmigrationCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

12:50 p.m.

Kootenay—Columbia B.C.

Conservative

Jim Abbott ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage

Mr. Speaker, it gives me a great deal of pleasure to speak to this motion, particularly in light of my own personal history on the issue. I have always been deeply concerned about the rights of Canadians and the freedoms that we have in our society.

Going back to Bill C-36 and what is presently under consideration by this House, the motion to give an additional three years to the anti-terrorism law, it turns out that I am going to have to confess to the House and to Canadians that I made a mistake. I made a mistake five years ago when I voted against this anti-terrorism bill. It was the position of my party to support the Liberal government on the anti-terrorism bill.

The bill was proposed immediately prior to the break week in October, and the debate proceeded to the break week around Remembrance Day. During that period of time and those two breaks, I went around my constituency. I went to classrooms and to coffee shops. I conducted town halls. I listened to the people in my constituency.

The major concern coming out of all of that was the fact that the anti-terrorism bill as such was so odious and so bad, and so crushed the individual freedoms and liberties for which hundreds of thousands of Canadians died, that nobody wanted the bill. Although there are the two provisions that are now before the House for debate in the bill, and there is a five year sunset clause, there are other provisions in the Anti-Terrorism Act that are virtually equally odious to the sense of freedom and the sense of fair play that we have in our society.

As a consequence of that, I chose to take a position contrary to the Canadian Alliance position at the time and contrary to that of my leader. I was one of two people in our party, I believe, who stood up and voted against that bill.

I am happy to say that I was wrong. I was wrong with my vote because, in the intervening period of time, we have seen that the police forces, the people who protect Canadian society, have not had occasion to enact any of those provisions, and that is good.

I was also wrong in taking a look at the potential for there to be a miscarriage of justice, for the potential for there to be excessive use, and for the potential for civil liberties of Canadians to be taken away.

Quite frankly, I feel somewhat qualified to speak to this particular motion because of the strong sense that I as an individual representing the people of Kootenay--Columbia have about the individual civil liberties of everybody in Canada.

Taking a look at this motion per se, and having listened to the presentation by the member for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, I find his position, if indeed it is representative of where Liberal members are coming from, to be absolutely breathtaking in the scope of its hypocrisy.

His position is unsustainable when we look at the fact that my colleague from Abbotsford and I pointed out, which is that it was the Liberal justice minister who went before the press gallery, who spoke very well, very strongly and very purposefully about the Anti-Terrorism Act, and who actually saw the incarceration of these men. If it was not she, it was her predecessor, also a Liberal justice minister.

For him to be standing here and saying that just because we have changed government, just because the Conservatives are now in charge of the keys on the doors that we should be changing the system, if there is such a thing as logic in that argument, it absolutely eludes me. I do not comprehend other than for possible political posturing and advantage, why he would have chosen to have made that speech.

Although I disagree in the most fundamental way with the position the NDP members are taking on this issue and the position they take on a number of related issues, in my judgment, although I believe they are fundamentally wrong, they are nonetheless doing it because they believe it. There is a consistency to the NDP position.

There is a total inconsistency to the Liberals' position. We never know what it is going to be from day to day. The new leader of the Liberals I believe took a position on the anti-terrorism bill, or at least certainly his party did, which the Liberals have now completely overturned and flip-flopped on.

As a person who is deeply concerned about the personal freedoms and the rights that we have in Canada, I say to the Liberals to get their act together, to get some principles on the positions they are going to be taking on these issues. It is far too important.

I will argue and do everything I can within the law, within the legislative power of Parliament to defeat what the NDP members are talking about, but I do respect the fact that they are taking what they consider to be a principled position. It is a position that they have.

I find myself in despair over the fact that on issues that are so fundamental, so bedrock to who we are as Canadians and what our society represents, the Liberals wish and wash and flip and flop and we never know where they are going to end up.

I felt compelled to stand on this issue because it is one that has been immensely important to me as long as I have had the extreme privilege that I have had to represent the people of Kootenay--Columbia in this place.

Citizenship and ImmigrationCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

12:55 p.m.

Liberal

Karen Redman Liberal Kitchener Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, it had not been my intention to respond to my hon. colleague, but there are a few things I need to point out, having been in the Liberal caucus when we brought in this legislation when we were in government and now being in opposition.

I would like to point out to my hon. colleague that there are from time to time, as a matter of fact I think on most topics, a variety of views within this House. One should not speak disparagingly of others who do not share the same point of view. I have never sat in his party's caucus, but I hear that it is somewhat of a monolith of views and they feel very righteous in the fact that there is very little variation in the public face that they present.

I would like to point out to my hon. colleague, who I know has many years in this House and is a thoughtful man generally speaking, that the sunset clause was actually put in when we were in government as a backstop to what could have been perceived as draconian measures, what could have been seen as something that impinged on individual rights and freedoms. It was absolutely fundamental to us as a Liberal Party which then, I would underscore, was the government, but now is in opposition, to make sure that we had the balance appropriately calibrated between standing up against the new menace of terrorism and demonstrating to our international partners that we did take this very seriously, but not tipping the balance to such a degree that we indeed were giving up many of the values and characteristics that we hold dear as Canadians.

Thus we put in a sunset clause. Thus it is very consistent to ask hard questions that the Conservative government does not seem to want to ask, such as, if these have not been used in the intervening time, and we have been able to uncover a cell of terrorist activities as we did in Toronto in the recent past, one can legitimately ask if these are indeed necessary.

I would say that it is beneath members of this House in any way to pick that as being inconsistent or less valuable than the decisions that other individuals and parties in this House might make.

Citizenship and ImmigrationCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

1 p.m.

Conservative

Jim Abbott Conservative Kootenay—Columbia, BC

Mr. Speaker, my colleague, for whom I have a very high personal regard, has pointed out that the point of view that is expressed by members when they come to this House is shaped two ways. One is for me or for the member to be speaking as an individual; the other is to represent the view, the perspective, the position of the party.

In this particular instance, if we can step away from the anti-terrorism bill for just half a second and deal with the issue at hand, what I find deeply regrettable and certainly leading to the kind of ridicule and criticism that citizens have of ourselves as politicians in this place is the fact that it was her justice minister, it was her government, that put these men in jail in the first place. They were there, and have been there, for five and a half years under her government's regime. Now, all of a sudden, just because the government has changed, the Liberals in turn changed their entire party position. Why would they do that?

The consistency of our freedoms depends on the consistency of the administration of justice and the principles under which we are governed. As long as we are seeing a major party in Canada, the Liberals, flipping and flopping and dashing and not knowing which way that party itself is going to go, it ends up creating an insecurity within Canada.

If it was the Green Party or if it was the Rhinoceros Party or if it was somebody who was just coming into the political mainstream, that would be one thing, but, regrettably, I have to report that it is the Liberals who have governed Canada for the majority of time that Canada has been in confederation. For them to be flipping and flopping and just trying to find a comfortable position to get into is highly regrettable and really goes to the core of who we are as Canadians and the values that we have as citizens in Canada. I find it deeply regrettable that the Liberals are not prepared to stand on principles, if they could find some.

Citizenship and ImmigrationCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

1 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Royal Galipeau

It is my duty to interrupt the proceedings and put the question necessary to dispose of the motion before the House.

Is the House ready for the question?

Citizenship and ImmigrationCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

1 p.m.

Some hon. members

Question.

Citizenship and ImmigrationCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

1 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Royal Galipeau

The question is on the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

Citizenship and ImmigrationCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

1 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

No.

Citizenship and ImmigrationCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

1 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Royal Galipeau

All those in favour of the motion will please say yea.

Citizenship and ImmigrationCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

1 p.m.

Some hon. members

Yea.

Citizenship and ImmigrationCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

1 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Royal Galipeau

All those opposed will please say nay.

Citizenship and ImmigrationCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

1 p.m.

Some hon. members

Nay

Citizenship and ImmigrationCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

1 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Royal Galipeau

In my opinion, the nays have it.

And five or more members having risen:

The recorded division on the motion stands deferred.

The House will now continue with the remaining business under routine proceedings.

PolandPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

1:05 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition signed by a number of Canadians, including from my riding of Mississauga South. The subject matter has to do with the Republic of Poland.

The petitioners want to draw to the attention of the House that Poland has successfully joined the EU, that Canada and Poland are active members of NATO, promoting peace and security globally, that Poland is using a biometric passport technology, and that lifting the visitor visas for Poland will increase family visitation, tourism, cultural exchanges and trade missions.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to lift the visa requirements for the Republic of Poland.

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

1:05 p.m.

Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan

Conservative

Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

1:05 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Royal Galipeau

Is that agreed?

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

1:05 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Criminal CodeGovernment Orders

1:05 p.m.

Niagara Falls Ontario

Conservative

Rob Nicholson ConservativeMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

moved that Bill C-35, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (reverse onus in bail hearings for firearm-related offences), be read the second time and referred to a committee.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to Bill C-35 which proposes that additional reverse onus situations apply in bail hearings for firearm related offences.

Procedural law is an important issue because it relates to how our criminal courts operate.

During this session of Parliament our government has introduced 10 bills to strengthen or improve Canada's criminal justice system. We have taken action to increase the mandatory minimum penalties for gun crimes, ban house arrest for serious offences, crack down on street racing, impose stricter conditions on dangerous offenders, and bring our impaired driving laws into the 21st century.

In Canada the law provides that a person charged with an offence has the right not to be denied bail without just cause. That means that the accused must be released unless the Crown shows that it is justified to keep the accused in custody before trial. Occasionally, the accused is required to show why pretrial detention is not justified. This is called a reverse onus.

Parliament has already created several reverse onus provisions for bail hearings. The concept was first introduced into the Criminal Code in 1976. When creating reverse onus provisions, Parliament must be mindful of balancing the rights of the accused to reasonable bail with the need to safeguard the safety of the public and to maintain confidence in the administration of justice.

The Criminal Code provides that there are three grounds that can be relied upon in order to justify keeping an accused in custody before trial. The first ground is to ensure that the accused will face the charges in court and not flee from justice. The second ground is to protect the public if there is a substantial risk that the accused will reoffend while on bail or if there is a risk that the accused will interfere with the administration of justice. The third ground is where the detention of the accused is necessary to maintain confidence in the administration of justice.

Bill C-35 is consistent with the principles that currently underlie Canada's bail regime. I would like to take a minute to talk about the proposals contained in the bill.

Bill C-35 creates a reverse onus provision for eight serious offences when committed with a firearm. They are: attempted murder, discharging a firearm with criminal intent, sexual assault with a weapon, aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping, hostage taking, robbery and extortion.

These serious crimes carry a mandatory minimum penalty of four years and under Bill C-10 the minimum penalty would increase in certain circumstances to five years on a first offence, seven years on a second offence and if they still do not get the message, 10 years on a third or subsequent offence.

Bill C-35 also creates a reverse onus provision for any offence involving a firearm or other regulated weapon if committed while the accused is bound by a weapons prohibition order.

A mandatory weapons prohibition order is imposed upon conviction for over 70 offences, namely, when an offender is convicted of an indictable offence in which violence against a person was used, threatened or attempted and for which the maximum penalty is 10 years or more; specific firearms offences; or trafficking, smuggling or producing drugs.

In other words, mandatory weapons prohibition orders are imposed on people who are convicted of violent crimes, drug offences or serious weapons related offences.

The courts are also empowered to impose prohibition orders after conviction for other less serious crimes if they consider it appropriate in the interests of public safety. These are called discretionary prohibition orders and they remain in force for up to 10 years. A mandatory weapons prohibition order remains in force for a minimum term of 10 years and in many cases for life.

It should also be noted that it is possible to have a weapons prohibition order imposed on a person even though the person is not charged with or convicted of a criminal offence.

An order prohibiting someone from possessing firearms or other regulated weapons can be obtained by the court for preventive reasons. If a peace officer or a firearms officer has reasonable grounds to believe that it is not desirable or in the interests of the public safety that a person should possess firearms or other weapons, an order to prohibit possession can be obtained and it can remain in force for up to five years.

Weapons prohibition orders are an important tool in our criminal law to help prevent firearm violence, whether it is firearm homicides or the full range of other firearm related crimes, but also accidental injuries and suicides.

Whether the prohibition orders that are currently in force were imposed in a mandatory or discretionary way following conviction for a criminal offence or in a preventive manner due to public safety concerns, I would like to highlight that there are approximately 35,000 prohibition orders currently in force in Canada.

Therefore, this proposal, which provides a reverse onus for anyone charged with an indictable weapons related offence, if already prohibited from possessing weapons, has a very broad reach, given the large number of offenders currently subject to a prohibition order.

The idea of triggering a reverse onus for persons charged with serious weapons related offences if committed while prohibited makes sense. These people already have been considered by a court to be a public safety threat. That is why the prohibition order was imposed in the first place.

They should not benefit from a presumptive entitlement to bail when they have demonstrated their inability to abide by a court order on a matter of direct relevance: their alleged reoffending involving weapons in direct contravention of an existing court order not to possess weapons.

The courts must be required to take a serious look at these types of cases. The accused persons should bear the onus of demonstrating why it is not justified to keep them in custody.

I realize that I have taken a bit of time on this point, but I think it is an important feature of the bill. As I said earlier, from a public safety perspective it makes sense.

Bill C-35 also creates a reverse onus provision for the three following serious firearm related offences: firearm smuggling, firearm trafficking or possession of a firearm for the purposes of trafficking.

While these offences do not involve the actual use of a firearm, where the safety of the public is directly put at risk, they are still serious offences nonetheless.

Those who are involved with firearm trafficking and smuggling are responsible for the illegal supply of guns to people who cannot lawfully possess them and who are very likely to use them for a criminal purpose.

We also have a problem with an underground firearms market where guns that have been stolen from within Canada or smuggled into country are traded and sold to people who are not allowed to possess them legally. We want to get at those individuals who are trafficking in firearms and we want this bill to apply to them.

Today in Canada street gang members and drug traffickers arm themselves with guns, usually handguns, therefore creating the demand for illegal guns. They are well organized and sophisticated illegal operations.

Law enforcement officers tell us that some of the schemes involve drugs first being smuggled to the United States and sold there, and the proceeds are used to purchase guns that are smuggled back into Canada. Law enforcement officers also tell us that some firearms traffickers even rent out guns for the night, if anyone can believe it.

We have a reverse onus that currently applies to those charged with drug trafficking and smuggling. There is no good reason not to include a reverse onus for those who are involved in firearms trafficking and smuggling. From a public safety perspective, although firearms traffickers may not be the ones actually pulling the trigger and causing the death of a person, they certainly play a significant role in the firearm homicide problem.

In addition to the reverse onus provisions, Bill C-35 also proposes additional factors that the courts must consider in determining whether the accused should be detained before trial in order to maintain confidence in the administration of justice. Namely, the courts must consider the following factors: whether the accused allegedly used a firearm in the commission of an offence; or whether the accused faces a minimum sentence of three or more years.

With respect to this provision, referred to as the “tertiary or third ground”, it should be noted that certain terms ruled to be too vague in the existing provision are being removed in response to the Supreme Court of Canada decision in the case of R. v. Hall. Specifically, the phrase “on any other just cause being shown and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing” is being removed.

We know that Canadians are concerned about violent firearm offenders being released back into the community. The goal of Bill C-35 is to prevent the re-commission of offences, particularly gun violence, by persons out on bail.

Bill C-35 seeks to enhance the current bail regime by making it more effective with regard to serious crimes involving firearms and it does so in a way that is consistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Subsection 11e) of the charter recognizes the right not to be denied bail without just cause.

The Supreme Court of Canada recognized that there are situations in which the reverse onus is necessary to prevent absconding or reoffending while out on bail, for example, in drug trafficking cases.

I consider these bail reforms to be a rational and constitutional approach to tackling serious gun and gang problems that currently exist in our communities.

Police officers, provincial and some municipal governments, who are more directly involved in fighting crime, have been expressing serious concerns for some time about the release from pre-trial custody of persons involved in gun and gang related crimes. This tougher bail scheme for firearms offences responds to their concerns.

Persons involved in criminal gangs are able to easily regain possession of illegal guns, to continue with their criminal activities, which usually revolve around the drug trade and turf wars.

These proposals appropriately focus on serious firearm offences, and particularly when committed by those already prohibited from possessing firearms and other weapons.

These measures are beneficial for the victims and their families as well as for witnesses who may be reluctant to come forward with information or to testify for fear of retaliation. It is important that they be encouraged to cooperate with authorities and knowing that the accused is behind bars will help in that regard.

These measures are also beneficial for Canadians in general. This bill will help restore Canadians' confidence in the administration of justice. Bill C-35 confirms the government's resolve to ensure that Canada's criminal justice system appropriately safeguards the safety of the public.

It is important to note that this bail reform initiative is part of a larger plan for tackling gun and gang violence. The government's plan includes interventions at different levels. We have taken action to put more law enforcement officers on our streets and at our border points including armed border guards to help crack down on firearm smuggling and trafficking.

We have dedicated resources to help prevent crime and to focus specifically on preventing youth at risk from getting involved in street gangs and drugs. As mentioned earlier, we have proposed tougher sentences for those convicted of serious crimes involving firearms with particularly stiff penalties for repeat firearms offenders.

Canada's new government promised to tackle crime to make our streets safer.

Bill C-35 appropriately targets serious offences involving the use of firearms and it also addresses the emerging concern with respect to firearm trafficking and smuggling. Equally important, Bill C-35 targets violent repeat offenders by proposing a reverse onus for any indictable offence involving firearms or other regulated weapons if committed while the accused is under a weapons prohibition.

This is a minority Parliament. We have to have the support of all political parties and I say to them, it is not enough to talk about fighting crime at election time. We have to do it when we are sitting here in this Parliament. I believe that this is a worthwhile positive contribution to making the streets and Canadian communities safer.