Allan Rock

[Michael Lawrence Drake, May 2nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, that is indeed a much more general question.

Let me say that in all cases where people are accused of serious crime, including sexual interference with children, it is a question for the court in accordance with the bail provisions in the code whether such persons are released pending trial, and indeed following trial, pending sentence or an appeal from sentence.

All I can say to the hon. member is that I am confident that crown attorneys across the country exercise their judgment responsibly and that courts in each case consider the safety of the community in determining whether bail should be granted either in the event of trial or afterward.

[Michael Lawrence Drake, May 2nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the issue is now one of extradition as the hon. member has said.

As such, it will first go to the court with respect to the issue of a warrant of committal and then eventually it will come to me, if that is the process followed. It is open to the person in question to apply to the Minister of Justice eventually no matter what the outcome of the court proceeding. If the person is committed then the minister can intervene under the statute.

I do not propose to comment on the substance or the merits of the extradition procedure. The member's question goes to the issue of detention and the person being in the community during the pending of the proceeding. I will be happy to make inquiries about what happened with respect to that matter and respond factually to the member when I get that information.

[Justice, May 2nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I have dealt with the point about the statistics. The more recent numbers over the last 16 years are far more reliable and meaningful. Let us put aside the question of numbers and get to the root of this issue.

I know the hon. member and I are of the same mind on one issue. That is that we have to improve the justice system in order to diminish crimes of serious violence. We have to do that by making the laws more effective and by attacking the underlying causes of crime.

I know as we introduce measures in the weeks ahead on those subjects in this House that we can count upon the hon. member and her party to support us in that cause.

[Justice, May 2nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, let me say first that I do not think any useful purpose is served by a protracted debate about the numbers. The fact is any amount of crime in Canada is too much. The justice system could always be improved and we are working hard to achieve that.

On the subject of the numbers and the statistics, let me point out to the hon. member that the statistics reported today in one of the newspapers on this very subject involve numbers going back to 1962. While that is interesting what is perhaps of more relevance to today's purpose are the more recent statistics.

Since 1977, in the last 16 years during which numbers have been kept, homicides are up only 4 per cent. Those are the statistical facts from the same source referred to in the newspaper this morning.

Reference is made to violent crime. However in many of those statistics if you look behind the initial number, violence often includes such things as schoolyard shoving and slapping by

young offenders, behaviours which were not charged in the days before the statute but now are and form part of the statistics.

I say to the hon. member that any amount of crime is too much. I insist that we keep this issue in perspective and I repeat that the justice system on the whole is in very good shape.

[Young Offenders, April 28th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, there are three points in response.

First, as the hon. member knows, because I have said as much in the House, we propose to bring forward specific changes to the Young Offenders Act within the coming weeks as we undertook to do during the election campaign in order to deal more effectively with crimes of serious violence. The steps we will propose will be intended in great part to meet the concerns addressed by the hon. member in her question.

Second, as to the facts of the specific case, I ask the hon. member to bear in mind that while that issue is raised in the appeal, the statute as it exists at present provides expressly that protection of society is one of the governing principles of the Young Offenders Act and is to be taken into account.

Third, we do not think for a moment that violent crime is going to be resolved in this society by tinkering with statutes or changing acts. The fact of the matter is that the criminal justice system itself is not going to end violent crime. It only deals with the consequence of underlying social problems. It is crime prevention that must have at least the equal focus of the House of Commons.

[Handguns, April 27th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I enjoyed the meeting on Monday. The delegation that came to see me in my office was as described by the hon. member and served to remind me that the vast majority of Canadians want effective gun control in the country.

It is recognized that this is only part of the solution. It is recognized that we have to deal with the smuggling of illegal arms and deal properly with those who use firearms in the commission of offences. At the same time it is important to recognize that guns are used in suicides, over 1,000 each year, and that 3,000 firearms are lost or stolen from the homes of lawful owners each year and then turn up in the hands of criminals who subsequently injure or kill with them.

While respecting the legitimate rights of lawful gun owners in the country, the government is committed toward more effective gun control. We will be responding to concerns such as those expressed on Monday last in my office by those who visited on the occasion described by the hon. member.

[Reproductive Technologies, April 27th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the hon. member, I decline to give a piecemeal position of the government on these issues. I would rather have the matter come forward in its

entirety with the complex underlying issues fully assessed. Therefore, I will respond to her question at the appropriate time.

[Reproductive Technologies, April 27th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I decline to give the undertaking. I think it is premature. The royal commission which reported in February delivered some 300 recommendations to government, most of which were for my colleague, the Minister of Health, but many of which affected the Ministry of Justice in so far as they suggested changes to the Criminal Code.

As I mentioned to the hon. member on the last occasion when she raised this important matter, there are complex questions arising from the recommendations such as, for example, the intersection of criminal law where it tries to prevent horrendous interference with genetic matters and, on the other hand, legitimate research in the university setting which can go to push back the frontiers of medical knowledge.

I say to the hon. member that I share her sense that these issues are important, that they should come before Parliament, but I will not bring them here until we have assessed them thoroughly so that we can form the issues properly and members of this House can make a decision based on all the facts.

[Child Abuse Registry, April 26th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I can give the commitment readily.

In fact as a result of work that the Solicitor General, the Minister of Health and I have done over the last several weeks, we are about to release an options paper during the month of May into the hands of interested parties across the country. It will set out specific steps we can take to put in place a registry of child abusers in the country.

Just this morning I met with Monica Rainey who has been the very active and very effective president of Citizens Against Child Exploitation. Her work and the message she brought me this morning serve to show the urgency of this undertaking. We have to protect children from repeat abuses by people who have been convicted of these offences.

The efforts we are making focus on both the short term and the long term. The first is to establish the registry perhaps through an adaptation of the CPIC system the police use for convictions. The second is to have an effective screening system so that employers who are about to hire people in positions of trust can find out whether they have been convicted.

I share the hon. member's sense of urgency on this issue. I assure him we are taking steps and our paper will be in his hands within the next four weeks.

[Métis Society, April 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the hon. member that we are working to a time deadline that was established long ago in accordance with administrative procedures. This is not a matter of stonewalling. I am simply not in the position to respond to questions about a report that has not yet been delivered to me in final form.

I can tell the hon. member that once I have the report and it is in final form I will be pleased to respond to any questions he has about it.