House of Commons Hansard #133 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was court.

Topics

PassportsAdjournment Proceedings

7:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès) Liberal Alexandra Mendes

The hon. member for Peace River—Westlock.

PassportsAdjournment Proceedings

7:25 p.m.

Conservative

Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB

Madam Speaker, I still do not have an answer to my question. The question was this: How many passports has the Liberal government given to convicted child sex offenders?

I noted off the top that there are 72,000 Canadians on the sex offender list, of whom 42,000 are child sex offenders. We know through Order Paper questions that the government has refused a passport to only about a handful, fewer than 20, of the cases. The question is, how many has it granted? That is the question I am trying to get at.

I know about the review body. I know about all these things. My question is this: Why are child sex offenders getting passports? I hear from civil society groups that monitor these things that they know what particular individuals are doing and where they are going. They are asking why those individuals are getting a passport.

PassportsAdjournment Proceedings

7:30 p.m.

Liberal

Marie-France Lalonde Liberal Orléans, ON

Madam Speaker, this is an attitude of all hands on deck to make sure that individuals who do not deserve a passport do not get one.

Canada's passport program is working hand in hand with partners such as Correctional Services Canada, the RCMP, police services and partnering agencies to make sure that sex offenders do not get a passport. We are doing so while making sure that all other Canadians who do deserve a passport will get one in due time.

We may have implemented many well-thought-out, reality-based solutions to speed up the process to get a passport this year, but one thing we did not do is compromise the integrity of the passport rights. At all costs, we must protect our children, and that is exactly what we are going to continue to do.

PassportsAdjournment Proceedings

7:30 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès) Liberal Alexandra Mendes

The motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 7:31 p.m.)