Chuck Cadman

[Youth Criminal Justice Act, May 12th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, Ontario says that Ottawa has ignored public safety by not appealing the striking down of parts of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. The attorney general wrote:

Your failure to take a stand continues this dismal legacy to youth justice in Canada, and will further weaken an already inadequate piece of legislation.

The provisions affected have been law since 1995 and this decision could result in new trials for cases involving murder, attempted murder, manslaughter or aggravated sexual assault. Why did the minister not appeal given these considerations?

[Justice, May 5th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear on this. This minister and his predecessors promised Canadians that they would crack down on violent youth crime. Now he has allowed the courts to strike down the very laws designed to do just that. This ruling will be cited by defence lawyers across Canada.

Why did he betray Canadians by failing to appeal this decision?

[Justice, May 5th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, only a month after the Youth Criminal Justice Act replaced the Young Offenders Act there was a major problem. The Quebec courts have struck down parts of the act and the minister has decided not to appeal but, surprise, to consult. What has the government been doing for the last 10 years?

Why did the minister choose to let the Quebec court of appeal water down his legislation without so much as a whimper?

[Mothers Against Drunk Driving, May 5th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, 18 months ago Mothers Against Drunk Driving released a 19 point checklist of federal legislative measures that would make Canada's impaired driving laws more effective. To date, the Liberal government has only adopted one of the recommendations, the one that provides for the use of an ignition interlock system to prevent convicted drunk drivers from starting their vehicle if they are intoxicated.

MADD has recommended eight measures to enhance police enforcement powers. It has recommended four measures to clarify and redefine impaired driving offences, four measures to address administrative issues and two measures to rationalize sentences.

British Columbia's Helen Hoeflicker, who lost a child to an impaired driver, will join MADD Canada's national president, Louise Knox, and other MADD representatives from across Canada on Parliament Hill this week. I urge all members to make some time to meet with them and to learn about the importance of taking action on the 18 recommendations not yet implemented.

[Organized Crime, March 21st, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, last week the Solicitor General was in my riding. He had refused my request to participate in his education about crime in Surrey North. Perhaps he is afraid to be held accountable for his future inaction.

I do know what the RCMP told him about marijuana grow ops and related violent crime in Surrey. I know he is aware that the police lack the resources and the legislation to properly address these threats to public safety. Many in Surrey suspect his little grow op photo op is nothing more smoke and mirrors.

Will he take immediate action based on what he was told by the Surrey RCMP?

[Criminal Code, March 19th, 2003]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-413, an act to amend the Criminal Code (vehicle identification number).

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Skeena for seconding the bill.

I am introducing this legislation to amend the Criminal Code with respect to auto crime, specifically to include a section that makes tampering with a vehicle identification number, or VIN, a criminal offence. This bill makes it a criminal offence to alter, deface or remove a VIN.

Statistics Canada reports that auto theft has been increasing for years at an annual cost to Canadians of at least $600 million. The Criminal Code does not specifically address vehicle identification numbers, thereby creating a giant loophole for organized crime.

For years, police have been saying that tampering with the vehicle identification number must be made a Criminal Code offence to aid in the investigation and prosecution of organized auto theft rings. By tabling this legislation I am making it available to the justice minister to use in closing this loophole. Auto crime investigators need a Criminal Code section prohibiting the obliteration, alteration or removal of a vehicle identification number to shut down auto theft rings operated by organized crime.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Amber Alert Program, March 17th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, last week Elizabeth Smart was rescued after nine months in the hands of kidnappers. Her father is pleading for the U.S. Congress to institute the amber alert program nationally.

Amber alert uses radio, TV, electronic billboards and emergency broadcast systems to immediately alert the public about abducted children whose lives are in peril. Over 70 amber alert programs have been established in the United States since the first one appeared in Texas in 1997. About 40 children have been rescued to date.

About a year ago, Toronto became the first Canadian city to introduce amber alert. Alberta, the first province to adopt the program, has committed resources. Earlier this year, Ontario adopted amber alert. Manitoba and my home province of British Columbia are about to follow suit. Unfortunately, however, provincial programs stop at provincial borders.

A truly effective program must be national. Canadians want the federal government to show leadership by instituting a nationwide amber alert program for the sake of our children.

[Organized Crime, February 28th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, Statistics Canada reports that auto theft has been increasing for years. The annual cost to Canadians is at least $600 million.

The police and the courts need help to investigate and prosecute organized auto theft rings. The Criminal Code does not specifically address vehicle identification numbers. This creates a giant loophole for organized crime. Tampering with a vehicle identification number must be made a criminal offence. Police have said so for years.

Is the Minister of Justice even aware of this loophole and when is he going to close it?

[Justice, February 27th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have had enough of the government's lax attitude toward violent crime.

A woman was handed a conditional sentence of two years less a day for killing her partner in 1993, even though crown said that she was likely to reoffend.

Now, 10 years later, she is charged with allegedly attacking her new partner with a hammer.

Earlier this month two street racers were convicted of criminal negligence causing death for killing a pedestrian. One was even caught speeding while prohibited from driving as a condition of bail. Their punishment: two year conditional sentences.

A man who caused brain damage to his own baby gets house arrest.

Child pornographers regularly get house arrest.

A 58 year old man rapes a young girl he gets house arrest.

Abusers who traumatize their victims for life get the equivalent of a time out for punishment.

Any remaining confidence in our justice system was shattered last week when a man got five years for his part in the killing of 329 people with a bomb.

Canadians are not impressed.

[The Budget, February 21st, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the budget has virtually nothing for justice or law enforcement. Marijuana grow ops, which fuel organized crime, are epidemic in British Columbia and Ontario. Police cannot even keep up. Provinces do not have the resources to meet the demands imposed by Ottawa in the new Youth Criminal Justice Act. There is nothing in the budget.

Canadians were stunned last month when police revealed the magnitude of the child pornography problem. Again, there is nothing in the budget.

There is nothing for illicit drugs, nothing for youth justice and nothing for sexually exploited kids. Why?