Debates of Feb. 2nd, 2023

Indigenous Affairs

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, I give my thanks to the member for Yukon for reminding us that nothing is more important than keeping families and children together.

On Tuesday, I joined Chief Glenn Hudson and Minister Rochelle Squires in Manitoba to sign a historic coordination agreement that is going to put Peguis in the driver’s seat to determine the best way to protect children and families. This means the next generation has a better chance.

I am so proud to be part of a government that understands that keeping families together is of utmost importance.

Justice

[Jake Stewart, Conservative, Miramichi—Grand Lake, NB]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this Prime Minister, everything feels broken in Canada, including the bail system. Violent crime has increased 32%. Gang-related homicides have increased by 92%, and five Canadian police officers were killed in the line of duty this year.

Bail for violent repeat offenders has become a revolving door. When is the Liberal government going to take responsibility for its actions and stop this catch-and-release bail justice system?

[David Lametti, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians deserve to be and to feel safe. We all have a role to play in protecting our communities. The laws on bail are clear: If an accused person poses a serious risk to public safety, they should not get bail.

At my direction, since the month of October past, federal officials have been working with their provincial and territorial counterparts to develop ways to best keep Canadians safe. We are open to that discussion. We are open to participating with the provinces to help in the enforcement of bail conditions. We are looking for lasting solutions.

[Jake Stewart, Conservative, Miramichi—Grand Lake, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I will ask the minister to tell victims, in light of those five police officers, what he just told me.

Most Canadians do not live in homes surrounded by walls and gates, and they do not have the security detail of the Prime Minister. That is a luxury that Canadians do not have. With a 26% increase in crime in New Brunswick over the past five years, rural Canadians are also negatively impacted.

These failed, soft-on-crime, Liberal bail policies are making Canadians feel less safe. When will the Prime Minister put victims ahead of criminals?

[David Lametti, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I take offence to the idea that any of us are less empathetic towards victims, particularly in these very cases. Our heart goes out to those victims.

With respect to the bail system, I have been working with my officials across Canada, the provincial and territorial counterparts, precisely to see where we can improve the bail regime.

We know that Canadians need to feel safe, and we are moving forward in a positive direction, appreciating that it is a complex issue and a shared area of responsibility with the provinces. With the provinces, we will find a solution.

[Rob Moore, Conservative, Fundy Royal, NB]

Mr. Speaker, well, Canadians take offence to a government that will not listen to the pleas of all 13 premiers, who have seen violent crime go up by 32% in the last eight years. Out of 44 shooting homicides in Toronto last year, half were committed by someone who was out on bail. In a single year in Vancouver, 40 people were arrested 6,000 times. After eight years, in this Prime Minister, career criminals have never had a better friend.

Does this justice minister honestly stand by his claims that our broken bail system is working?

[David Lametti, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, cherry-picking statistics and taking high-profile cases and using them for political purposes does not help us to attack the challenges that the bail system presents to us.

As I have said, we have been working on that question since the month of October with our provincial counterparts. We are looking at solutions that can be fixed in the law, but we are also looking at the kinds of things that the provinces can do in the administration of the bail system.

British Columbia has taken a leadership role. I met with the attorney general for British Columbia yesterday to go over what B.C. was doing. Ontario is interested, and so are the provinces. We will work together—

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Fundy Royal.

[Rob Moore, Conservative, Fundy Royal, NB]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians do not need victim blaming. They need leadership and action.

Which stats would the hon. minister wish that we were not cherry-picking? Violent crime is up 32%. Gang-related homicides have increased by 92%. Of 44 shooting-related homicides in Toronto, half of the accused were out on bail, and 40 offenders have been arrested 6,000 times. If the minister has some stats that he would like to share, we welcome them.

Until then, we need to get our heads out of the sand and take action. We need to listen to the police, communities and the premiers and reform this failed Liberal bail system.

[David Lametti, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier today in the House of Commons, statistics from the Toronto police over the past few years show that offenses committed while individuals are out on bail have gone down over the past two years.

We appreciate that Canadians need to feel safe and Canadians have a right to feel safe—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

Order.

The hon. minister will please continue.

[David Lametti, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard—Verdun, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-75 codified what were essentially Supreme Court decisions and made it harder to get bail in a number of cases. It did not change any of the severity of bail conditions for violent criminals, yet we are still going to look at other possibilities with the provinces to move forward to make Canadians feel safe.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in Montreal, there are now 73% more people on social assistance than there were a year ago. This is not because of a job shortage, but because of Roxham Road.

The federal government has invited asylum seekers to enter by Roxham Road. Once they are on Canadian soil, it cannot issue a work permit for them. That takes almost one year. The federal government plunges them into poverty and they are then forced to go on social assistance. This costs Quebec an additional $20 million every month.

Will the government pick up the tab? It is responsible for this situation.

[Marie-France Lalonde, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, Quebec continues to be one of the government's valued partners, and we recognize that the province is working hard to support asylum seekers.

Our government has provided $534.5 million in assistance to the provinces, including $374 million to Quebec to alleviate the pressure of housing asylum seekers.

We have also invested $740 million to guarantee that they continue to have access to medical coverage to meet their immediate and essential medical needs.

We will continue to work with our partner.

[Denis Trudel, Bloc, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals, who are notoriously sanctimonious, are forcing asylum seekers to seek social assistance, but it does not stop there. There is a shortage of housing, mainly because of federal underfunding, so dozens of homeless asylum seekers are turning to community organizations that are already stretched thin and to shelters that are already overcrowded for help.

People are going to end up on the streets because we do not have the resources to accommodate them. Where will these people go?

Why not suspend the safe third country agreement, make sure that asylum seekers are not all entering the country at the same place and give them the dignified welcome they deserve?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois holds the international title for sanctimoniousness.

If my colleague had looked at the relevant documents, he would have seen that, between 2017 and 2020, the Government of Canada contributed $374 million to address the situation at Roxham Road. Quebec just gave us the bill for 2021-22. Obviously, we are going to sit down together and do our part. We are also covering asylum seekers' health care costs.

We are here and we are working with Quebec. The Bloc Québécois may not like it, but we are keeping our commitments.

Justice

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, today the justice minister said that, if someone poses a significant threat to public safety, the law tells us they should not be released on bail, but in reality, in Toronto last year, of the 44 gun murders, 24 of the suspects were out on bail when they committed these murders. Those 24 people clearly posed a threat to public safety, yet they were out on bail.

When will the minister get his head out of the clouds and commit to reforming our broken Liberal bail system, which he helped to create?

[David Lametti, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, it is a fundamental principle that, if a person poses a threat to public security, he or she should not get bail. That is balanced with the fact that bail is not only a charter right, but a common law right of long date, because in our system one is innocent until proven guilty.

We allow judges to make that determination based on the arguments that prosecutors and defence attorneys put before them, so I will not revisit an individual case, but what I can say is that we are working with our provincial counterparts to see how we can improve the bail system to make Canadians feel more safe.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, violent crime in Canada has increased by 32% since 2015 and gang-related homicides have increased by 92%.

What is more, the Liberals, supported by the Bloc Québécois, passed Bill C‑5, a piece of legislation that eliminates minimum sentencing. That is what is happening in Canada after eight years under this government: more crime and more criminals out on bail.

Can the Minister of Justice face reality and admit that his policies favour criminals and penalize victims?

[David Lametti, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as I just said, the bail system is a fundamental part of our system. If a person poses a threat to public security he or she should not get bail.

We have to strike a balance and we will work with the provinces, because even though criminal law is under federal responsibility, it is with the provinces that we will determine how to administer the system. We will do that together.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when the Conservatives were in office, a serious crime resulted in serious consequences. Now, there is no longer a minimum sentence for rapists. That is what happened with Jonathan Gravel, a man found guilty of rape, who will serve his sentence from the comfort of his own home. A Quebec Crown prosecutor had the courage to stand up and speak out against this completely unacceptable situation.

Did the minister forget that the word “justice” is part of his title? There is no justice for victims.

[David Lametti, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, we firmly believe that all victims of sexual assault deserve a justice system that treats them with dignity and respect. I would like to recognize the resilience of the victim in question. As I have said many times, serious crimes deserve serious consequences. My colleague knows that I cannot comment on specific cases, but I can say that this was a decision of the Quebec court and that it could be appealed by the director of criminal and penal prosecutions, the DPCP. Obviously, we are awaiting the DPCP's decision.

[Patricia Lattanzio, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice just announced today his intention to delay by one year the expansion of the medical assistance in dying legislation to those suffering solely from a mental illness. We know that medical assistance in dying is a complex issue and very personal for many Canadians.

Can the minister explain the reasons for his decision?

[David Lametti, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, grazie to my colleague from Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel for her question and her leadership. It is indeed a very complex issue. That is why we have listened to the experts, the members of the medical community and the citizens who asked for more time to develop clear standards.

Canada has developed medical assistance in dying legislation that supports autonomy and freedom of choice while protecting the vulnerable. We will continue in that direction and we will do it right.