Madam Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to discuss the important issue of drug crime, the opioid crisis and the efforts our government has taken in this respect. I want to speak specifically about the criminal law framework in place to address drug-related crime, including where it is linked to organized crime.
Off the top, I want to note the inconsistencies in the motion the Leader of the Conservatives moved today. First, it says “to reinstate longer jail sentences for drug kingpins”. The maximum penalty for drug trafficking is life in prison. For the CPC to imply at all that it is not is harmful and shameful, but we know that it is the party of disinformation, which we have seen again here this afternoon. Second, the motion calls for “more boots on the ground at our ports”.
I ask, “Who cut over a thousand CBSA officers working to intercept drugs, guns and irregular migrants?” It was the Harper government, of which the Leader of the Opposition was a member. Who regularly voted against our efforts to increase funding to CBSA? The Conservative leader and his caucus did, all on the leader's orders.
It is deeply ironic that Leader of the Opposition put the motion forward today. The Conservatives call themselves the party of law and order, but when they are in government they cut, and when they are in opposition they vote against support. It is complete hypocrisy.
Canada is not alone; countries around the world are confronted by the challenges in combatting and addressing organized crime. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime puts the value of illegal drug trade in the hundreds of billions of dollars annually. According to its “World Drug Report 2024”, cocaine is being produced and trafficked at record levels, and the scourge of fentanyl is causing significant overdoses across North America.
Addressing drug crime and the harms caused by illicit drug use requires a multidisciplinary and multisectoral response. No one organization, level of government or solution will address this, despite the claims of the Conservative leader. Our government is committed to the multi-faceted, team Canada approach, unlike the opposition. One part of the solution is, of course, ensuring an effective criminal law response that targets organized crime, drug traffickers and illicit drug manufacturing. In this respect, Canada has a robust legal framework.
I also find it amusing when the Conservatives suggest that Canada has decriminalized drugs. This is simply not the case, and they know it. Drug trafficking always has been and continues to be a serious criminal offence, punishable by significant penalties of imprisonment. Those who traffic in schedule 1 or schedule 2 drugs, which include fentanyl, are subject to the most significant penalty in Canadian law: life imprisonment.
Courts treat drug trafficking seriously and routinely impose significant periods of imprisonment that recognize the seriousness of the offence, the harm it causes and the profits it generates for criminals. The same is true for illegally importing, exporting or manufacturing schedule 1 or schedule 2 drugs, which are also serious crimes punishable by maximum penalties of life imprisonment.
Between 2019 and 2022, 46% of all drug prosecutions for manufacturing resulted in a finding of guilt. The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act also requires courts to consider, at sentencing, certain factors as aggravating. These include whether the crime involved violence or a weapon, whether trafficking occurred in or near a school, and whether the commission of the offence used the services of a young person. I would also point out that persons charged with any of these trafficking offences are subject to a reverse onus at bail. This demonstrates our intention that getting bail in these cases should be more difficult.
There is a robust criminal law framework already in place to address illegal drug activity. The broad range of tools available to address drug crime and organized crime are being put to good use in Canada. Just two weeks ago, we learned that the RCMP in Burnaby arrested two people and shut down what was described as a “super lab” in Langley that was capable of producing multiple kilograms of fentanyl every week. We applaud the RCMP's efforts.
Related is that our government is continuously working to improve Canada's ability to combat financial crime, particularly due to the rapidly evolving and complex nature of financial crime. In every budget since becoming finance minister, the Deputy Prime Minister has introduced a significant number of measures to strengthen Canada's anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regime. These include responding to the recommendations of the Cullen commission, increasing information sharing and providing significant funding. The Conservatives have voted against every single one of those.
Since 2019 we have also invested close to $379 million to fight financial crimes. The Conservatives voted against that too. The Conservatives also voted this spring against our measures to combat auto theft. They voted against measures in the fall economic statement to combat organized crime. They have voted repeatedly against increased funding to the CBSA. There is a deep irony to the Leader of the Opposition's putting forward the motion today, given the record.
We know that the Conservatives do not have a plan to keep Canadians safe. When they were in power, they made significant cuts to the CBSA, the RCMP and our intelligence services. They have promised to make assault-style firearms legal again. They are blocking our legislation that would protect children from online sexual exploitation. It is shameful. Here they are today, claiming they can keep Canadians safe.
I know that drug crime has profound impacts on our communities and our residents, but I also know that we have the resources, the laws and the justice system to keep people safe and to hold traffickers to account. We are always open to constructive dialogue on how we can improve this, but we are not taking any lessons and we are certainly not hearing constructive dialogue from the other side.