House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2000, with 57% of the vote.
Csis November 18th, 1999
Mr. Speaker, the affair of the diskette left in the telephone booth was investigated and it appears that disciplinary action was taken against the individual involved.
Can the solicitor general tell us whether any directives have been issued to prevent removal of such diskettes from offices in future and, more to the point, are these diskettes now protected so that it is no longer as easy to read them as it is now?
Csis November 18th, 1999
Mr. Speaker, the incredible blunders of CSIS agents have discredited all Canada's secret services. Former CIA and FBI directors called this affair amazing and inexplicable.
Does the solicitor general not realize that the repeated blunders of the secret services have made them an international laughing stock, and show that he is not up to the responsibilities of his position?
Division No. 54 November 18th, 1999
Mr. Speaker, I do not quite understand why the member for Mississauga West is criticizing the Reform members. The bill before us this morning is Reform policy that the government has put into the text of a law.
Who in this House called for the publication of the names of the young offenders, as we currently see in Bill C-3? The Reform members. Who in this House wanted young offenders referred as often as possible to adult court? The Reform members. Who in this House called for harsher sentences and greater repression for young people? The Reform members.
I cannot understand why the Liberal member is attacking the Reform Party. This is the very policy that the Minister of Justice has included in the bill, a policy that has been tested and that does not work. This policy has been tested in Quebec, and there is universal agreement that it does not work.
Rehabilitation is the way to go. Nothing in the bill will encourage the other provinces, which are not enforcing the Young Offenders Act in its present form anyway, to enforce the new legislation. In addition, it will cost millions of dollars to implement this new bill, when Quebec has been enforcing the legislation for the past 16 years, with convincing results, very good results.
Under pressure from western Canada, the Minister of Justice has scrapped the old act and drafted a new one. These are not amendments—let us strike this word from our vocabulary—to the Young Offenders Act. This is really a new act entitled the Youth Criminal Justice Act. This is a complete change of vocabulary and a complete change of philosophy.
The government may think that this bill is about public safety, but it is mistaken. In the long run, Canada and Quebec will pay for the amendments that have just been introduced. When young offenders re-enter society, they will not be anonymous citizens the way they are today when the existing Young Offenders Act is enforced the way it was intended to be and funds are made available, as they are by Quebec.
I think that the member opposite does not know what he is talking about. I think that he has not even read Bill C-3 and I definitely think that he has not looked at the differences that exist between today's young offenders system and Bill C-3. What I heard this morning was shocking.
Speech From The Throne November 17th, 1999
Mr. Speaker, I wanted to follow my colleague; in fact, what I have is more of a remark than a question.
He is entirely right. In the throne speech, we have the government talking about the Internet and about connecting many municipalities in Quebec with the world. This is all very lovely, but since I too am a member with a rural riding, I can confirm that, in 1999, on the eve of the next millennium, there are taxpayers in Quebec—and in Canada as well, I am sure—who have party lines, and even some who do not have any telephone service at all.
The federal government wants to invest in impressive programs such as the Internet, but does nothing about what is happening just outside major cities. Bell Canada and other telephone companies have come up with this wonderful concept of areas without service. I urge all members of the House to examine the legislation and to look at all the definitions. They will realize that, ultimately, the telephone companies are the big winners. All they have to do is sit tight. That is it.
I think the government should take some very tough action. When the CRTC looked into this, the government was strangely quiet, while the regions all got together to bring to light the fact that, in 1999, there are, as I said, families without any telephone service at all.
Worse yet, Bell Canada has allocated telephone numbers to families—they are listed in the directory—that do not even have service because their homes are perhaps 10 or 15 metres beyond the last telephone pole. It is as ridiculous as that.
The members opposite sit back, go on about the Internet and want to see the whole world connected. All these political speeches are very impressive, but the regions are being left to fend for themselves.
I would therefore ask my colleague if this is a situation he sees in his riding, on the outskirts of Quebec City.
Canadian Security Intelligence Service November 16th, 1999
Mr. Speaker, we read in the National Post that this is the fourth time CSIS has got its foot in it.
On one occasion, officers lost information about a west coast surveillance mission. On another, they left strategic information in a telephone booth. On a third, they tried to burn classified documents in a fireplace.
My question is for the Solicitor General of Canada. In the face of such a disaster, is the minister going to ask senior officers of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to appear before the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights to answer for their actions?
Young Offenders Act November 1st, 1999
Mr. Speaker, in Quebec, no one wants the changes the minister is proposing, and rightly so, because, in Quebec, we have had very good results applying the Young Offenders Act just as it is.
When will the minister listen to stakeholders in Quebec, who succeed where her allies on the right are failing?
Young Offenders Act November 1st, 1999
Mr. Speaker, two years ago, the government of Mike Harris initiated project Turnaround to fight recidivism among young offenders. We learned recently that 40% of the young people taking part in this program have committed repeat offences.
Despite the failure of the Conservative policies, why is the minister persisting in her efforts to satisfy the right by totally demolishing the Young Offenders Act?
Youth Criminal Justice Act October 21st, 1999
Two things, Mr. Speaker. First, it is false to say that Bill C-3 represents a balance between what the Bloc Quebecois wants and what the Reform Party wants. That is simply not true. Everything the Liberal government put in this bill is designed to meet the objectives of the Reform Party. That is altogether another matter.
Second, the hon. member spoke about responsibility. On that subject, we can agree. One has to be irresponsible to change legislation that works. When dealing with legislation that works, the minister's responsibility is to try to improve it. We are not saying that the Young Offenders Act should be left alone because it is the best act in the world. There are things that could be amended, simplified. Right now, there are cases where young offenders are tried twice, and presumptions of innocence are suffering. There are things that need to be clarified and improved. However, the entire act should not be scrapped in favour of amendments that could be technical.
I would like the member to tell me the minister's justification for repealing an act that is working. When we look at the statistics, we see that there is a 23% decrease in youth crime. Since 1995, violent crimes have decreased by 3.2% and sexual assaults by 1%. Fifty-three per cent of charges against young people involve property offences, not violent crimes against persons. I think the government is getting it all mixed up. The system is not perfect. It can be improved. But, please, let us not make the mistake of throwing out 16 years of enforcement, 16 years during which judges have established an interpretation that is well known in Quebec, that is being enforced, and that is yielding results.
I appeal to the members from Quebec across the way to wake up, to tell the Minister of Justice that this does not make sense. The government must not throw out 16 years of experience for the sake of a few votes in western Canada. I call on the members from Quebec to wake up and oppose this bill. We cannot pass it, because it flies in the face of everything being done in Quebec. There is a consensus.
Who do the Liberal members from Quebec represent in the caucus? Western Canada or Quebecers? The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, the Canadian Police Association, the Quebec bar association and 18 organizations have formed a coalition against the bill. Where are the Liberal members from Quebec today, when they should be telling the minister that they do not want this bill?
I know the member is bright, that he is reasonable and does his homework before he speaks. I would like him to tell me that he agrees with me: Quebec is enforcing the Young Offenders Act with very good results. I am sure that, deep down, he does not want to see western Canada throw away all Quebec's experience with respect to this legislation.
Youth Criminal Justice Act October 21st, 1999
Mr. Speaker, after the great long police beat report from the west, I would like to make a few comments.
I would like the member to hear the speech he made. He is very critical of cases happening in his own riding or in ridings in western Canada.
Everything he says points to there being a problem. I agree with him, there are problems in western Canada, because the Young Offenders Act is not being properly applied.
This is so true that even in Ontario—he spoke of Mike Harris—a pilot project has just set up. There are figures to show that repression has been increased. Camps where repression is abusive have been established for young people. What are the results? Thirty per cent of these young people become repeat offenders after their release.
Members should look at what is happening in Quebec. There, the focus is on rehabilitation, returning to society. There is practically no recidivism. The opposite is the case. Young people who have been duly followed under the law and the powers accorded us under the Young Offenders Act are returning to society. They are becoming ordinary citizens.
In Quebec, we do not see the horror occurring in western Canada, which the member has just described. The member should perhaps look to see what is happening outside his province.
I would hope that the Reform Party never comes to power, because their policy on justice would be awful. The Reform Party is mistaken, and what I find deplorable is that by crying wolf they have frightened the government, which has given in to Reform Party policies.
Youth Criminal Justice Act October 21st, 1999
Madam Speaker, I listened to the government member's speech and we agree on one thing: when it comes to the Young Offenders Act, Liberal, Conservative and Reform members all see problems where there are none.
All the hon. member said in support of the bill, with his quotes and statistics, is that Ontario taxpayers were in favour of reinvesting, of the rehabilitation and reintegration of young offender. But this can already be done through the Young Offenders Act, and I am wondering if he is aware of it.
All the examples he gave in support of Bill C-3 are things that can already be done through the YOA. This is why, in Quebec, there is a unanimous consensus against the justice minister's bill.
The problem with the YOA is not its wording, but its enforcement. In Ontario as in the western provinces, it is not being enforced. However, when it is, the re-offending rate for serious crimes such as murder and armed robbery is less than 5%—I believe it is 2%, but I do not want to mislead the House.
These are the statistics you get when you enforce the Young Offenders Act properly. And the fundamental changes being proposed here will not improve the legislation. The government is taking the positive aspects of the current legislation and adds to it such ridiculous provisions as the publication of the names of young offenders in the newspapers.
What purpose would that serve? It would only brand them for the rest of their lives. One day, the 14 year old who was sent to prison or went through the highly repressive system we want to set up, will get out. And he will be what, 24 or 25 years old? But once he is out, what will he be able do after having been branded a criminal for the rest of his life?
This will not in any way help the society whom we claim to be fighting for, whom we are trying to better protect by improving the legislation. The existing legislation does. Did the hon. member take the time to read the current Young Offenders Act and did he notice the so-called major changes the minister wants to make?
Also, does the hon. member realize that the only province where everyone agrees the legislation is enforced properly, and I am talking of course about the province of Quebec, has a very high success rate? Why change the law, when it is in the western part of the country that things should be changing.