Mr. Speaker, as this is my first opportunity to rise in the aftermath of the terrible murders at Tumbler Ridge, I want to add my voice to the chorus of sorrows. As a father, and like every other parent, I am sure all we could do as we watched that news was to hug our own children a little closer and offer our prayers to the victims' families and the entire community with regard to the devastating impacts they will face in the years ahead.
To the issue at hand, Canadians understand something that is too often lost in our political debate: When the justice system gets something wrong, the government just simply moves on, but ordinary people and their families continue to live with those consequences. That is why Canadians expect Parliament, when shaping the law, to keep those people front and centre.
Let me begin with something important. Conservatives did not come to this bill looking for a fight; we came looking for fixes. We listened to victims and their families. One of the most powerful moments at the justice committee did not come from legal experts. It came from a mother.
Meechelle Best, alongside her husband Ron, spoke about her daughter, Kellie Verwey, a 28-year-old woman from Portage la Prairie, a bright light in our community. Her life was taken by an offender who was out on bail and already in breach of his conditions.
Meechelle did not come to Ottawa looking for sympathy. She came looking for answers and with solutions. When Meechelle described the day she lost her daughter, the room fell rightfully silent. In that room, it became clear to everyone that this was not some theoretical debate. It was a mother reminding us that decisions have been made in this place that are lived out in our communities by real people.
Meechelle asked a question that should stay with all of us: What good are reassurances if they do not protect anyone? She spoke about how often we hear about the rights of the accused and asked simply and powerfully about the rights of victims and their families. The cost of failure in the bail system is not measured in reports and statistics. It is measured in lives lost, in families living with grief and in communities left wondering whether tragedy could have been prevented.
At committee, Conservative MPs did not just talk about the problems. We listened and we proposed solutions. Police officers, prosecutors, transit workers and community advocates told us that the justice system was broken, with too many dangerous repeat offenders cycling through. When they pointed out the gaps, we worked to make this bill stronger.
Canadians are exhausted by this revolving door justice system and are just as tired of endless political games. They want results, and rightfully so, and we made real improvements that would restore integrity to the bail system through amendments. One key amendment that we put forward would prevent convicted serious offenders from acting as sureties.
Bail supervision is meant to protect the public, not serve as simply a rubber stamp. Allowing those with serious criminal records to act as sureties is ridiculous, and our amendment would end this absurdity once and for all. We would also strengthen detention rules by establishing a reverse onus for repeat serious violent offenders who commit new crimes while already on release. If someone is given a second chance and they use it to hurt people again, the priority must be public safety. They need to prove they are no longer a risk or they will remain behind bars.
Public safety is not negotiable, period. For too long, debates about bail reform have been driven by partial information. It was not that long ago that we saw Liberal MPs and ministers defending the status quo as if it were not broken and everything was okay, but the warning signs were there. However, it took tragedy after tragedy before the Liberals were prepared to admit that they had actually broken the system and that it needed to be fixed.
To ensure this never happens again and to hold government accountable, our amendment would mandate annual reporting on the bail system performance with transparent data on reoffending and compliance. Simply put, Canadians deserve to know whether these changes are making them safer, and Parliament needs facts, not assumptions, to keep improving the system.
Finally, we supported measures that treat serious firearms and weapons offences as violent crimes under youth justice law, because gun crime is violent crime, full stop. A person's age does not lessen the trauma inflicted on victims or the fear that it spreads in our communities. These are not just minor tweaks. They are important changes that would make the bill stronger.
Canadians also deserve honesty about what did not happen at committee.
While Conservatives worked to strengthen the legislation, the Liberals repeatedly voted against measures that would have gone further to protect victims and communities. They voted against requiring consecutive sentences for repeat human traffickers. Let us be clear about what this means. Human trafficking is one of the most heinous, exploitative and devastating crimes that exist in the Criminal Code. When someone commits that offence repeatedly, we believe, the penalty should reflect the gravity and the repetitive nature of that harm, yet the Liberals rejected this proposal, choosing leniency where stronger consequences were absolutely warranted.
They voted against making public safety the primary consideration of bail decisions. Members should think about that. What else could there be other than public safety as the primary consideration of bail decisions? At a time when we have communities across the country raising concerns about repeat violent offenders cycling through the system, the Liberals refused to enshrine a clear statement that community comes first.
They also voted against mandatory detention in cases involving repeat serious offenders who reoffend while already on release. They voted against strengthening passport surrender requirements for high-risk accused individuals even in reverse onus situations. They voted against expanding ineligibility for house arrest for serious offences such as human trafficking, robbery and weapons trafficking. This leaves open the possibility that individuals convicted of major crimes could still serve their sentences in the comfort of their own home.
Canadians watching this debate understand the difference. Conservatives fought for stronger protections because we know what happens when warnings are ignored, while the Liberals chose half measures.
This debate does not exist in a vacuum. Across the country, police chiefs and premiers have raised concerns about repeat offenders committing serious crimes while out on bail. Victims' families have spoken about preventable tragedies. Frontline police officers have called on Parliament to act before more people are hurt or killed.
Bill C-14, as amended, moves in the right direction in several respects because of Conservative amendments, but it still reflects the government's failure to confront the consequences of policy choices that weakened confidence in the justice system. Public safety should not be a partisan issue. We should all agree that criminals belong behind bars. That means recognizing when the system needs correction.
I believe in a justice system that must hold two truths at once. It must protect the rights of the accused, and it must protect the innocent. It must respect fairness, and it must ensure safety for the communities that we all serve. These goals are not mutually exclusive. In fact, public confidence in the justice system depends on achieving both. When repeat violent offenders are released too easily, confidence erodes, and rightfully so. When serious crimes are met with insufficient consequences, deterrence weakens. When victims feel that their safety ranks second to ideology, trust simply disappears. That is why Conservatives pushed for stronger measures. That is why we will continue to push for improvements wherever and whenever possible.
The amendments demonstrate what can happen when the government actually listens. Transit workers can be better protected. Bail supervision can be more credible. Repeat violent offenders can face stronger scrutiny. Canadians can finally receive clear reporting on how the bail system is performing. These are real improvements, but we must acknowledge that more work remains. I will never stop working to correct the past mistakes and to ensure that repeat offenders face real consequences for the harm they cause to folks not just in my area but across the country.
Bill C-14 is stronger today because Conservative members fought to make it stronger, including the tireless work of my colleague from Brantford—Brant South—Six Nations. Canadians should also know this: Where the government chose to not go further on repeat human traffickers, on mandatory detention for serious repeat offenders and on ending house arrest for major crimes, Conservatives will continue to press for change.
This work does not just end with one bill. At the end of the day, the first responsibility of any government is the safety of its citizens. That responsibility does not change with political convenience, and it does not disappear when this specific debate ends. It is the obligation of any government to keep its citizens safe. That is a responsibility that Conservatives will never stop fighting to uphold.
