Debates of Nov. 8th, 2012

Correctional Service Canada

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, the member's first question was clear, and my answer was also clear.

The minister said it yesterday, and I am repeating it today: we gave instructions that all the necessary information be given to investigators so that, in the future, the judicial process produces more responsible outcomes than what we saw in the videos of Ashley Smith.

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, with great respect, the Minister of Public Safety is in the House. That is why I asked him the question. He is here.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

Order, please. What I said was that members should not refer to who is or is not in the chamber.

The hon. member for Toronto Centre may proceed.

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I will not refer to the fact that the minister is not answering the question that I asked him. However, I will ask the same minister, why is he not answering this question?

I am asking him a very specific question. What facts led him to settle with Ashley Smith's family? What videos did the government have in its possession? Those are very clear questions. What other videos does he have in his possession? What other photographs does he have in his possession? What other things does he have in his possession about the mistreatment of mental patients who are in our prisons?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, we take this particular case and the broad subject very seriously. That is why we are working with the inquest to ensure that all the information is being given forward.

More broadly, we want to ensure that Canadians understand that we have invested into our regime for supporting mental health across the country, not only in the corrections system but beyond that. We want to ensure that the tragedy and the cruelty, frankly, that Ashley Smith faced is not repeated in the future. That is why the minister has taken the responsible action to ensure that all the information is coming forward.

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, if the government and the member for Toronto Centre paid any attention to the correctional investigator, they would know he already reviewed more than 60 hours of tape with regard to Ashley Smith and made recommendations more than two years ago. When the Minister of Public Safety was asked to implement those recommendations to ensure that no one else faces the same fate as Ashley Smith, the minister responded with an absurd partisan attack.

Ashley was a victim of the system, a system unprepared to deal with mental illness. This time could the minister spare us the talking points and platitudes. Will he apologize to Ashley Smith's family and will he commit today to implementing the correctional investigator's recommendations?

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I note the member is reading from his talking points. What I am prepared to say in response to his talking points is that this tragedy continues to show that individuals with mental health issues do not belong in prisons but rather in professional health facilities.

At the same time, our government continues to take concrete steps on the issue of mental health in prisons. Since 2006, we have invested nearly $90 million in mental health for prisoners and we continue to take action to improve access to mental health treatment and training for staff.

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the minister just admitted that individuals with mental illnesses do not belong in prison. However, on the Conservatives' watch the intake of inmates with mental illnesses has nearly doubled.

The system is not equipped to deal with this problem and the Conservatives refuse to fix it. Instead, they tied the hands of judges with mandatory minimums, cut the Correctional Service Canada budget and ignored the consequences inside and outside of prisons.

Again, I ask the same simple question. Will the minister listen to the correctional investigator and implement his recommendations?

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, our police and judges do the work that they are assigned to do by Parliament under the Criminal Code. In that context, people with mental health issues have landed up not only in our federal penitentiaries but in our provincial jails.

We sat down last week with the provincial ministers to find a better way of dealing with those who have mental health problems. I know the member is concerned about this. I can tell him that all of the ministers right across Canada are very concerned about coming up with a solution to this.

Justice

[Françoise Boivin, NDP, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is not just Ashley Smith who has not had justice. Let us look at what is happening in Alberta where judicial resources are stretched to the breaking point.

The case of an accused child molester was thrown out of court for unreasonable delays after more than three years in the court system. The Conservatives' failure to provide adequate judicial resources has real consequences.

Will the minister step up and fulfill Alberta's request for additional judges?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, we consider all requests from our provincial counterparts. Quite frankly, I am pleased to see the opposition has discovered the justice file. It is an important one and one that we have made a priority over the years.

I hope this new interest will extend to supporting the legislation that we have brought forward to crack down on criminals and stand up for victims in our country. I hope we get that from the opposition. It would be great.

[Françoise Boivin, NDP, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, they say they are against bullying, but when it comes to justice issues they respond with bully tactics.

Last week, at the meeting of ministers of justice, the provinces and territories voiced their concerns about cuts to youth justice programs, underfunding of legal aid and the shortage of police officers, especially in first nations communities.

They also discussed the lack of consultation about federal crime bills. The federal government does not consult them at all.

Will the Minister of Justice address the problems identified by the provinces and territories?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, we have been fixing these problems over the years with no help whatsoever from the NDP and their colleagues.

Under the leadership of our Minister of Finance, transfers to the provinces have been up 43% since the year 2006. That is very impressive. We support the provinces and non-governmental organizations. We have programs at the federal level, all better designed to tackle crime in our country and assist victims across Canada. This is what we should do and we should have the support of everyone in the House on that.

Intergovernmental Affairs

[Robert Chisholm, NDP, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, on matters of justice in the provincial government, maybe the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs could work with the provinces to try and help solve some of these problems, because the Prime Minister has been alienating the provinces, even refusing to attend an upcoming first ministers meeting in Halifax. In fact, he will not even sit down with the premiers to discuss our shaky economy.

Will the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs be attending the first ministers meeting in Halifax? Will he give us some idea about his plan to correct the problems in the relationship between the provinces and the federal government?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I certainly hope the hon. member did not miss this, but just last week we met with our provincial counterparts. The Minister of Public Safety and I sat down with our provincial and territorial counterparts. We had a great discussion with respect to areas of mutual concern such as cracking down on crime, updating the Criminal Code, standing up for victims and law-abiding Canadians. It was a very fruitful, very productive discussion. I was very pleased to have it. I hope that has the support of everyone here.

Ethics

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we are really trying to help the minister from Labrador, but he is not really doing much. He gets a limo, a driver and lots of staff. He gets a very generous pay from the taxpayer and for that he is supposed to be able to stand and explain himself. However, we will go with something simpler.

Why was 79% of the travel expenses as minister spent in his own province? That is on top of the $18,000 in free flights from his campaign. We have a simple question. Is he using his ministerial dollars and taxpayer dollars to perpetually campaign around his riding?

[Peter Penashue, Conservative, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to strong relations with the provinces and territories based on true respect for their jurisdictions. I work with my counterparts to ensure that a strong relationship continues to grow. I also make it a priority to ensure that our government does its part in fostering jobs and growth in Newfoundland and Labrador and across Canada. That is what we do and that is what we will continue to do.

41st General Election

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yes, but what he has not done is explain why he is blowing all this money in his riding like he has not explained about his campaign spending. The member is like a poster boy for why we need stronger laws at Elections Canada. Let us get on to that.

This past week, Elections Canada praised the New Democratic Party for pushing for stronger powers for the Chief Electoral Officer to deal with voter fraud. Meanwhile, we also learned from new affidavits that it was the Conservative Party headquarters that had the call list that went out for voter suppression.

What are Conservatives doing? Are they going to sit and wait for the next RCMP raid against Conservative Party headquarters, or are they going to come clean with the taxpayers?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs has made it clear that we need to improve our electoral laws. That is why he is going to bring forward legislation to do that.

However, the problem is not always that we need to improve our electoral laws. The problem is that some parties like the NDP do not even follow our election finance laws, having accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal donations that they then were required to pay back. They decided behind closed doors what was going on with Elections Canada. They did not disclose it to the House or to Canadians. They are the ones who have to be accountable to Canadians for this and they are not willing to do that.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would think that, having been found guilty of using the in and out scheme and having the RCMP raid party headquarters, the Conservatives would be a little more humble.

After an investigation lasting a year and a half, voters are eager to find out who is behind the biggest voter fraud in the history of Canada. But the Conservatives are dragging their feet and refuse to give Elections Canada more powers.

It is odd. It is as though they had something to hide and were trying to buy time. It is more than a little suspicious in light of the fact that the Conservative Party headquarters provided the call list for fraudulent calls.

When will they stop covering for the fraudsters? When will they take their heads out of the sand? When will they give the powers—

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

Order.

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, those members start out by attacking the minister for spending time in his constituency and reaching out to the people of Labrador. Perhaps if the member for Timmins—James Bay spent as much time reaching out to his constituents, he would know that they did not want him to break his word and vote in favour of the much despised Liberal long gun registry. However, at the same time, he has a seat mate who will not even answer the simple question of whether he believes his province should still be in the country. I will give him a chance to stand and declare it—

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

Order, please. The hon. member for Toronto—Danforth.

[Craig Scott, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in a federal court affidavit, the COO of RMG is clear. Scripts were constructed to inform voters of polling changes in the last week of the campaign. The calls were based wholly on data provided by the Conservative Party. Such unreported data is crucial for Elections Canada to complete its investigation, but there is nothing in the Elections Act to require such reporting.

Will Conservatives support my bill that would enforce good reporting of voter telecommunications during campaigns, yes or no?