Anne McLellan

[Children, May 11th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, let me first take the opportunity to thank the special parliamentary joint committee of the Senate and House of Commons for the very fine work that it did in relation to the difficult issues surrounding custody and access when husbands and wives dissolve their relationships.

We as a government have endorsed and developed a strategy that speaks to the recommendations made by that committee. The committee recommended that the best interests of the child be the focus of our amendments to the Divorce Act. We endorsed that approach wholeheartedly.

However, it is very important for us to get it right. Getting it right involves working with the provinces and the territories.

[Supreme Court Of Canada, May 11th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the last time I checked it was the Parliament of Canada that voted on the sections of the Criminal Code dealing with child pornography. This parliament will have the opportunity to debate and vote on the Nisga'a treaty.

Far from the public being excluded, I would hope the hon. members would do their business and in fact come to this House and debate in good faith those important proposed laws.

[Supreme Court Of Canada, May 11th, 1999]

Let me say first of all, Mr. Speaker, that the appointment process that has been used in this country for the appointment of supreme court judges has led to the creation of the most respected final court of appeal anywhere in the world.

Let me also say, since our hon. friends across the way are so busy trashing federal institutions, that in the same poll they referred to, Canadians overwhelmingly voiced their confidence in the Supreme Court of Canada as the final appellate court in this country.

[Bill C-68, May 10th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member believes that there is a problem with the form of expression in either the English or the French text of Bill C-68, I would be more than happy to discuss the matter with him in committee. If changes need to be made we will accommodate them.

[The Family, May 10th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I think everyone on this side of the House is very much aware of the difficult and emotional circumstances that may exist when families break up.

Unlike the hon. members on the other side of the House, we recognize that this is a complex issue and one in which the law has a role to play, but that there are other strategies that we have to work on as well. What we are committed to doing is ensuring we protect the best interests of the child but in co-operation with the provinces and territories with whom we share jurisdiction.

[The Family, May 10th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member has bothered to read the response tabled in the House today, he knows that our response reinforces the principle of the best interests of the children.

One of the things the hon. member seems to forget in this discussion is that custody and access and parental responsibilities are a shared jurisdiction between the federal government and the provinces and territories.

Unlike the Reform Party that preaches provincial rights, we actually want to work with the provinces to ensure we have a family law system that does act in the best interests of all children.

[Justice, May 6th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot today tell the House the nature of that additional evidence.

However I will inform the House, as I informed members of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights yesterday, that I will be releasing my predecessor's review of the Peltier extradition.

The contents of that entire review will be released by me within coming weeks. At that time everybody will be able to see the basis on which Mr. Peltier was extradited from Canada.

[Bill C-68, May 5th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, indeed our youth justice legislation is based on broad consultations all across the country. I only have one question for the hon. member. I would like him to precisely define for me, here today or at some time in the future, that which he and the attorney general of Quebec would like to do which is not possible under our proposed legislation. I believe in facts. He will find that that which Quebec wishes to do and is doing today will be done after this legislation is passed.

[Bill C-68, May 5th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said on a number of occasions in this House in response to questions from the hon. member, our youth justice legislation is based on an acknowledgement of diversity of approach and concern in this country and it is based upon the important principle of flexibility. For example, our youth justice legislation puts a premium on crime prevention. We believe it is better to prevent youth crime before it happens. It puts a premium on rehabilitation and reintegration for young people after they have broken the law.

I wonder if the hon. member could share with us which of those principles he and the people of Quebec disagree with.

[Justice, May 4th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, that is not the case and I think the hon. member knows that. Our proposed youth justice system acknowledges the diversity of approach, the diversity of concern that exists among provinces and territories in this country. The youth justice scheme is one that provides sufficient flexibility to acknowledge that diversity not only in sentencing but in other aspects of the administration of justice.