Paul Devillers

[Federal Court of Canada, November 28th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the Federal Court has allowed a judicial review application in the case of American war resister, Jeremy Hinzman, on the issue of the legality of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Members will recall that Canada refused to join the U.S. in this war because it lacked UN sanction. Many Canadians are now encouraging the Government of Canada to accord similar treatment to the U.S. war resisters today as was accorded to the Vietnam war resisters.

I wish to add my support to those so encouraging the government, because I believe there should be no distinction between a person who was avoiding the draft and one who refuses to join an unauthorized war.

In case this is my last statement in this House, I want to take this opportunity to thank the voters of Simcoe North for giving me the honour of representing them in Parliament for four mandates.

[Petitions, October 25th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 it is my pleasure to present a petition from constituents of Simcoe North petitioning the House to make Canada a nuclear weapon free zone.

[Civil Marriage Act, June 27th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I find it somewhat comical to hear the members of the Conservative Party chastising Liberal members for not voting against their budget when they had the opportunity and did not have the hands on deck to do that, but that is not my question.

The member and I are on different sides of this issue; notwithstanding that, we respect one another's position. He started his comments based on the fact that this was being rammed through, or words to that effect. The hon. member for London—Fanshawe made the same point, that this is a process that is being rammed through.

My direct question is, if there was another six years of debate on this issue, what are the chances that his position would change?

[Committees of the House, May 9th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the ninth report of the Standing Committee on Justice, Human Rights, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

The committee has examined the qualifications and competence of Mr. Yves LeBouthillier, nominee to the position of president of the Law Commission of Canada, and finds him competent to perform the duties of that position.

[Committees of the House, May 5th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Justice, Human Rights, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

The committee draws to the attention of the House that the committee agreed to undertake a study of child pornography, the role of the Internet, the responsibility of Internet service providers, and the impact of any new technology in this phenomenon.

[Committees of the House, May 4th, 2005]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I request unanimous consent to return to presenting reports from committees.

[Committees of the House, April 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the seventh report of the Standing Committee on Justice, Human Rights, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

[Committees of the House, April 13th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the sixth report of the Standing Committee on Justice, Human Rights, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

[RCMP and Law Enforcement in Canada, April 12th, 2005]

Mr. Chair, I do not want to diminish the impact of this incident and indeed we do need to take note of it. However, I cannot resist taking issue with the picture that is being painted of our criminal justice system letting us down.

Opposition members, and in fact members from all parties, often operate under the misconception that violent crime is on the increase. The public also has that impression. However, the statistics are to the contrary. They indicate that violent crime is not increasing; it is decreasing. Our society is a safer place than it was in the past few years.

I am not trying to diminish the consequences of this incident. We have to ensure that everything is done to prevent any repeat of this type of incident. On balance, our society is less violent than in the past and the statistics are there to prove it. Unfortunately, this is something that many politicians, who are pushing the hot button and seeking public support, are assisting, aiding and abetting in giving the wrong impression.

[RCMP and Law Enforcement in Canada, April 12th, 2005]

Mr. Chair, I want to take issue with the characterization of our system being soft on criminals and so on. This is a frequent refrain that we hear from the Conservative Party in particular.

The incidents that led to the death of these four officers obviously was a tragedy and it is something that needs to be looked at more in the sense of the circumstances that led to this individual being able to have the intimidating effect he apparently had.

I have seen media reports. I am always loathe to make a comment in this place based strictly on media reports but given the media reports it appears that in many of the other criminal charges that the individual faced they were not pursued through to successful prosecutions, mainly because many of the witnesses were so intimidated that they were not coming forth and providing the tribunals with the evidence they needed. I think that is something we need to look at.

The situation we must always be wary of is the one where we have individuals who are in a state where they would almost more properly be dealt with in our mental health system than in the criminal justice system. It seems that this individual, again from media reports, was not the most balanced individual in a lot of ways. Perhaps it is a question of working with the provinces and territories in the area of mental health in being able to deal with these people, even if they have to be incarcerated while we are dealing with them so they would not be a danger to the community.

However one has to deal with particular criminal charges based on the evidence that is available to pursue those prosecutions and, from what I understand, in these instances oftentimes that evidence was not available.