Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Annapolis Valley-Hants.
It gives me great pleasure to rise today in support of Bill C-55, an act to amend the Criminal Code for high risk offenders, the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, the Criminal Records Act, the Prisons and Reformatories Act and the Department of the Solicitor General Act. I was pleased to hear that members of the Bloc Quebecois will be supporting the bill.
I would like to congratulate both the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and the Solicitor General of Canada for introducing this bill as early as they have.
There is no doubt that Canadians are very concerned about personal safety, as well as the safety of their families. Indeed, this bill has already been endorsed by a number of communities and individuals across the country.
Bill C-55 represents one of the most significant initiatives in relation to the criminal justice system in Canada. In keeping with the Liberal election platform, our government is committed to public safety in this country. This promise was reiterated in the throne speech of February 27, 1996, when the government stated: "The non-violent character of our country, safe homes, safe streets, is also an essential element of security for Canadians". The bill fulfils that commitment by taking the necessary steps to ensure the safety of our streets.
The main components of Bill C-55 are threefold. There is a new category created, the long term offender category. This category targets sex offenders and provides for supervision of their movement up to ten years after they have completed their parole and prison sentences. Convictions made in this category can include sexual assault, sexual touching, sexual exploitation, indecent exposure, aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm.
The second main component of this bill deals with dangerous offenders. The dangerous offender procedure focuses on cases where there is a very high level of brutality. Under the proposed changes a judge will no longer have the discretion and will be required to impose an indefinite sentence.
The crown under current laws may bring an application to declare someone a dangerous offender in the period between conviction and sentencing. However, the amendment to this bill will allow the crown to bring in a dangerous offender application up to six months after conviction.
The third main category of Bill C-55 allows a new judicial restraint provision to be added to the Criminal Code. This will permit pre-emptive controls including electronic monitoring to be applied to individuals. If there are reasonable grounds to believe that an individual has a high risk of committing a serious personal injury offence, the judge can impose conditions on that individual.
In conjunction with these initiatives Bill C-55 discusses alternatives for incarceration of low risk, non-violent offenders. The federal inmate population has increased 22 per cent in the last five years. Canada's incarceration rate is 130 per 100,000 population. This statistic is far ahead of countries such as Britain, which has 92; France, 86; Germany, 81. However, it is also far behind our neighbouring country, the United States, where the rate is 529: in Russia it is 558. Imagine, out of 100,000 population over 500 are sitting in prison.
This is what Reform Party members want this country to lead to. They should be ashamed of themselves. They should go back to their constituents and ask do they want what is in the United States. Do they want what is in Russia? Or do they want the Canadian way
of doing things? I think their constituents will tell them they will have the Canadian way of justice in this country.
Low risk, non-violent offenders are those who have not committed a crime involving personal violence and whose risk of reoffending is low. This government's first priority is the safety of Canadians. Not all offenders need to be imprisoned to achieve this goal of public safety. Promoting measures such as sentencing reforms and community diversion programs as alternatives for imprisonment for first time non-violent offenders at a low risk of reoffending distinguishes between the low risk and the high risk offenders.
This balanced approach by this government came about through consultations with provincial and territorial governments, the National Crime Prevention Council, voluntary organizations and community groups such as Parkdale Focus Community Watch in my riding which met with the minister, and the minister listened to their concerns and those concerns are addressed in this legislation.
In addition, much input was received from individual constituents. This was instrumental in bringing forward this legislation.
The measures announced last week are in response to communities such as Parkdale-High Park where citizens have lived in fear because of a high risk offender being housed in a local correctional facility.
Indeed community safety is a high priority in my riding, as in all of our ridings. This was especially evident when a pedophile was placed at a correctional centre in the west end of Toronto. Bobby Oatway, a third time federal offender, served 10 years for sexual assaults including rape, indecent assault, buggery and bestiality, and was brought into my riding from British Columbia with no prior consultation with the citizen advisory committee which we have set up. In fact, there was no knowledge of his relocation from B.C. to my riding until after his placement.
Mr. Oatway refused treatment while in prison, was considered too dangerous to be returned to his home community in British Columbia, and yet was found to be safe enough to be plunked into our community in the west end of Toronto. If a pedophile is too dangerous in one community, the solution is not to transfer him into another community.
Reform asks why do we not do something about it. We are doing something about it. That is why we are bringing in Bill C-55. I hope we can get speedy passage with the support of the Reform Party.
My constituents were enraged when this individual who had committed atrocious crimes against children was placed in a minimum security facility that is close to five elementary schools, a shelter for battered women and several child care centres. Any parent in this circumstance would be concerned about their children's safety and the potential denial of their children's basic right to life. This bill goes a long way toward protecting the basic right of children, the right to life.
On arrival to Toronto on statutory release, Oatway resided at Keele Community Correctional Centre. He participated in assessments with our district psychologist as well as with the admitting psychiatrist with the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry. He was under 24 hour supervision within the Keele Community Corrections Centre. All access to the community had to be under escort.
The residents living near the centre, community organizations and local politicians mounted such a strong and effective opposition that Mr. Oatway himself requested to be returned to prison in British Columbia.
Under Bill C-55, the Oatways will not be a threat to communities either in B.C. or in Parkdale-High Park. The principle concern that remains within my constituency is why was Bobby Oatway not declared a dangerous offender. The application for dangerous offender must be submitted by the crown upon conviction. This did not occur in this case and the Correctional Service Canada does not have the legislative powers to impose such a designation.
Under the proposed changes the government will now have up to six months after conviction to bring in a dangerous offender. Under the proposal a convicted person found to be a long term offender would be subject to a prison sentence suited to the offence with an additional period of supervision for up to 10 years.
In April I attended a public meeting at Indian Road Crescent Public School where I received almost 1,000 signatures concerning Bobby Oatway. The petition was forwarded to the Minister of Justice and the Solicitor General of Canada and I am pleased that the Liberal government has listened to our communities right across this country by acting appropriately to seek improvements to dangerous offenders legislation and to ensure public safety.
It is my strong belief that these government amendments will extend controls over persons convicted of sex crimes and other violent offences and will give us the measure to monitor their activities. In the event that they recommit, these amendments will put them where they belong, in jail.
Through this legislation there can be an effective combining of policing, prosecution, sentencing, custody, supervision and rehabilitation strategies that will control high risk groups within our society and keep our streets and neighbourhoods safe for our children and the general public.
