Debates of May 23rd, 2024

Department of Justice—Main Estimates, 2024-25

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Madam Chair, my understanding is that we have made very public statements, as the Government of Canada, about the nature of the settlements in the occupied territories being deemed illegal.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Madam Chair, does the minister agree with me that Canada has a duty to act within its jurisdiction with respect to the subject of illegal Israeli settlements?

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Madam Chair, what I would say to the member opposite is this: We have been quite vocal with respect to the nature of the settlements' being illegal, in terms of the statements we have been making over the last year with respect to the conflict in the region.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Madam Chair, with respect, I just need a simple yes or no answer from the minister.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Madam Chair, I have given my response.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Madam Chair, in March there were several events in Canadian communities in which real estate sales of settlement homes in occupied Palestinian territory were promoted and real estate was potentially sold. There was a real estate tour called the Great Israeli Real Estate Event, which was held in Montreal and Toronto.

Israel's far right government has been expanding and authorizing illegal settlements at a rate that exceeds those of all previous years. Settlements are illegal under international law, and under Canadian policy they are an impediment to peace. They should be a priority of the department, given that this is illegal under domestic law and also given the increasing settler violence in the West Bank, which the minister's government acknowledged last week when it imposed sanctions on extremist settlers.

Has the minister's department investigated these illegal sales that may violate the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act, which lists population transfer by occupying powers as a recognized war crime under domestic law?

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Madam Chair, I can reiterate that we have made quite public statements, both on our own and also with the governments of Australia and New Zealand, with respect to the settlements and their status at international law.

I can also reiterate that, pursuant to a motion proposed by the member opposite's party, and we voted on that motion, I believe, in March, we are taking the actions needed with respect to certain individuals from those settlements. This includes taking actions on sanctioning extremist settlers. We did exactly that last week by naming four extremist settlers for sanctions.

Those are the actions the Government of Canada has taken.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Madam Chair, that is all very clear, but I am looking at the investigation of the particular potential sales that happened here on Canadian soil. I would like the minister to comment on that specifically. I think Canadians have a very deserved right to know.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Madam Chair, with respect to the settlements, I can indicate that we deemed them to be illegal at law, as we have pronounced in statements that have been given by our government and by the governments of Australia and New Zealand.

We have also taken steps to issue sanctions against settlers from those regions who are taking extremist actions, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Madam Chair, I want to know what work the minister is personally doing to make sure that there is an investigation and potential prosecution of people in Canada who are facilitating the purchasing of property, investments or businesses in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Madam Chair, the member opposite knows, as a former member of the justice committee, that decisions about investigations and potential prosecution for criminality, whether it is here or abroad, are undertaken, as they need to be in a democracy, by entities such as the free-standing and independent department of public prosecution, the director of public prosecutions, or the war crimes unit. Those are not handled or directed by me—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Madam Chair, I understand that very well. That does not preclude the minister from issuing broad statements about what the government expects.

Again, I would like to hear an answer from the minister.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Madam Chair, I can indicate that the Minister of Foreign Affairs has been very vocal with respect to the status at international law of the settlements and also taking action with respect to sanctioning extremist settlers. That happened last week.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Madam Chair, with respect, the minister is been quite evasive. I am not talking about the Minister of Foreign Affairs. I am not talking about Israeli settlements abroad. I am talking about Canadians who may have broken the law here in Canada regarding the purchase of properties in the occupied Palestinian territories being done here on Canadian soil. I would like a specific answer to that specific question. That is not under the purview of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. That is under the purview of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Madam Chair, the purview of the Attorney General of Canada, with respect to the conduct of litigation, is not to wade into criminal prosecutions. There is a very strong line that has existed for over 20 years. That is why we have a Director of Public Prosecutions Act. That is why we have an arm's-length entity and an individual who is the director of public prosecutions so we do not have potential political direction being given about investigating crimes or laying charges in this country in any respect.

If people have evidence of a potential crime being committed, they should contact law enforcement, not the Office of the Attorney General of Canada.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Madam Chair, will the minister personally instruct the war crimes division of Justice Canada to conduct enhanced human rights due diligence for all real estate transactions made in Canada or by Canadian citizens that involve illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories?

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Madam Chair, I just want to reiterate for the member opposite, because it is really fundamental that he and every Canadian watching understand that the war crimes unit operates at arm's length from me. It does not take directions from me with respect to potential domestic law violations or international law violations. That is critical and really separates us as a nation-state that believes in democracy, having that important division—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Madam Chair, there is nothing precluding the minister from setting out certain expectations. I think that is very well and good to be established, and still keeping an organization within the Justice Department at arm's length.

I want to move on. Today I subbed in at the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, which is currently looking at the issues of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. It is quite obvious that Jews across Canada are reporting a terrifying increase of hate directed toward them as an identifiable group.

One of the recommendations that emerged at today's meeting was to ban symbols of hate. My colleague, the NDP member for New Westminster—Burnaby, has introduced Bill C-229, which would amend the Criminal Code to broaden the provisions related to hate propaganda by making it an offence to publicly display visual representations that promote or incite hatred or violence against an identifiable group. Can the minister comment on this particular initiative and whether the Government of Canada will support it?

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Madam Chair, I am pleased to see any efforts that deal with combatting hatred, which is unfortunately spiralling in terms of anti-Semitic incidents and Islamophobic incidents. There is a 130% rise in hate crimes in this country in the last five years. That informs the necessity for bills such as Bill C-63, the online harms bill, which will tackle things like hatred and its festering online, which has real-world consequences. It is very unfortunate that Canada ranks number one in the G7 for the number of deaths of Muslims in the last seven years, 11 in total, due to Islamophobic acts of hate.

What I would say, with respect to this bill, is that we are looking at it closely. I would also reiterate for the member's edification that we amended the hate propaganda provisions to include Holocaust denialism and willful promotion of anti-Semitism within the fold of sections 318 and 319, the hate propaganda offences. That was done within the last two years, I believe.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Madam Chair, members from all sides of the House have supported the creation of a new offence in the Criminal Code for coercive and controlling behaviour. Bill C-332 is scheduled to return to the House for report stage and third reading next week.

Can the minister tell me when the government will act and implement the changes to the Criminal Code that are urgently needed to protect survivors, families and children who are at risk of coercive and controlling behaviour and escalating threats of harm and violence?

Is the government committed to fast-tracking the implementation of the legislation, given the all-party support?

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Madam Chair, we are very aware of Bill C-332. I thank the member for the fact that this bill was generated from his party, and also for the fact that there was a lot of collaborative work that was done to make strategic amendments to improve the content of that bill.

My understanding is that this bill is coming up for third reading, and we are very dedicated as a government and as a party to addressing issues of gender-based violence and intimate partner violence. Coercive control is part of that continuum. The fact that other nation-states with which we are allies have addressed this issue already prompts us to act at a faster pace to try and ensure that this bill becomes law as soon as possible, at least through its passage through the House of Commons and off to the Senate.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Madam Chair, yesterday the House of Commons voted to defeat Bill C-381. There is obviously no evidence that mandatory minimums work as a deterrent. This was in the case of extortion in the Criminal Code. There is even evidence that they might hinder the work of a prosecutor to use plea bargaining to obtain evidence for the arrest of other members of a criminal organization. However, there are legitimate fears among the South Asian community regarding the increase in extortion from criminal organizations.

How the minister is dealing with this particularly sensitive issue? How will he be directing his department's resources to address these growing fears?