Paul MacKlin

[Queen's Jubilee Medal, November 26th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise today to pay tribute to 20 individuals from my riding of Northumberland who I recently presented with Commemorative Medals for the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Some recipients of the medals include Ms. Jacqueline Gorveatt, a member of the Alderville community who works diligently to ensure the services and resources available to the first nations are accessible and of the highest quality.

Mr. David Wilson fosters puppies for Dog Guide Training in conjunction with the Lions Foundation of Canada.

Mr. Gary O'Dwyer, a teacher at St. Mary's Secondary School, has enlightened and enriched the lives of many students through his many active teaching techniques and commitment to social justice.

I wish to congratulate all the recipients and encourage them to continue their efforts in serving fellow citizens.

[Age of Consent, November 25th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, we are taking a very broad view of this matter. In that process, when we look at the entire area, we start to find out that there are matters that need to be given special attention. We believe it is the predators that need to be given the special attention and we will deal with those predators.

[Age of Consent, November 25th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, as the minister has said in the House, we have looked at many options for sexual exploitation issues with respect to children and other vulnerable groups. In that process we have tried to consult with the provinces and come up with ways which would be effective. We believe we have found an effective way and will be introducing it very shortly in the House.

[Leonard Peltier, November 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to respond to Motion No. 232 introduced by the hon. member for Winnipeg--Transcona. The motion calls for the government to condemn as unacceptable the extradition of Leonard Peltier to the United States from Canada on the basis of false information filed with a Canadian court by American authorities, and calls on the government to seek the return of Mr. Peltier to Canada.

I certainly share the concern that the legal rights of individuals must be respected whenever they come into contact with the Canadian justice system. However let me state at the outset that I do not support the motion of the hon. member for Winnipeg--Transcona for a number of reasons, and I will explain.

Mr. Peltier was extradited from Canada in December 1976 on two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of burglary in connection with the June 1975 murders of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reserve in South Dakota. For purposes of the extradition hearing, American authorities produced two affidavits of Ms. Myrtle Poor Bear who claimed to be an eyewitness to Mr. Peltier's participation in these murders. She also testified to admissions made by Mr. Peltier subsequent to the shootings which implicated him in them. These are the documents referred to by the hon. member for Winnipeg--Transcona as being the false information.

Mr. Peltier was committed for extradition following a hearing at which circumstantial evidence against him, in addition to the direct evidence of Ms. Poor Bear, was tendered.

It is important to remember that the purpose of an extradition hearing is not to determine the guilt or innocence. It is to determine the sufficiency of evidence for the purpose of extradition only. An extradition judge cannot assess the quality or reliability of evidence. That is a matter for the trial judge and jury.

It is also important to remember that it is inappropriate to comment on the judicial proceeding of a foreign country.

Shortly before his appeal from committal was heard by the Federal Court of Appeal, a third affidavit of Ms. Poor Bear, which predated the two used at the extradition hearing, was produced by Mr. Peltier's counsel. This third affidavit was inconsistent with the other two affidavits to the extent that Ms. Poor Bear stated that she left the Pine Ridge Reserve before the shooting took place.

The Federal Court of Appeal refused to admit this third affidavit into evidence and dismissed Mr. Peltier's appeal from committal. At that time, Mr. Peltier did not seek leave to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Subsequent to the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal, Mr. Peltier made oral and written submissions to the then minister of justice, requesting that his surrender be refused. After considering the extradition request, including all three affidavits of Ms. Poor Bear together with Mr. Peltier's submissions and satisfying himself that Mr. Peltier would receive a fair trial and not be subjected to the death penalty, the then minister ordered Mr. Peltier's surrender to the U.S. authorities.

Subsequent to his return to the United States in 1977, a jury convicted Mr. Peltier on two counts of first degree murder. Myrtle Poor Bear did not testify at Mr. Peltier's trial. Mr. Peltier received two life sentences, which he continues to serve at Leavenworth Prison. The United States Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court have consistently upheld Mr. Peltier's convictions.

In 1989 Mr. Peltier sought leave to appeal the 1976 decision of the Federal Court of Appeal in the Supreme Court of Canada. The evidence used in support of Mr. Peltier's application included all three affidavits of Ms. Poor Bear and new evidence that was not available at the time of the Federal Court of Appeal hearing. Once again, counsel for Mr. Peltier argued that there was fraud and misconduct on the part of U.S. authorities, including the withholding of the third affidavit of Ms. Poor Bear. The Supreme Court of Canada refused to grant Mr. Peltier's application.

Mr. Peltier has exhausted all his means of appeal in Canada.

The Department of Justice conducted an extensive review of its file pursuant to request made in 1994 by the then justice minister. This departmental review was carried out in response to allegations that Mr. Peltier's extradition was based on fraud and misconduct on the part of the American authorities.

In October 1999 the departmental review was completed. At that time the subsequent justice minister concluded that Mr. Peltier was lawfully extradited to the United States. This subsequent minister found that there was no evidence that came to light since Mr. Peltier's extradition that justified a conclusion that the decisions of the Canadian courts and the Minister of Justice who ordered the surrender should be interfered with. This subsequent minister determined that, given the test for committal for extradition, the circumstantial evidence presented at the extradition hearing taken alone constituted sufficient evidence to justify Mr. Peltier's committal on the two murder charges.

Among other things, the review considered in detail the issue of the affidavits of Myrtle Poor Bear. These affidavits were relied upon by the extradition judge in ordering Mr. Peltier's committal and constituted the only direct evidence against Mr. Peltier in the extradition.

The review concluded that even without the Poor Bear affidavits, there was sufficient evidence in the extradition packet to justify Mr. Peltier's extradition and that the extradition was lawful. The review also noted that there had never been a judicial finding in either Canada or the United States that Mr. Peltier's extradition was obtained by fraud.

The departmental review and conclusions were sent to the attorney general of the United States and were made available to the public.

No new evidence has come to light since October 1999, when the department's review was concluded. This issue is now one for the U.S. authorities. Mr. Peltier was tried by judge and jury, and all jurisdictions in the United States have had the opportunity to examine Mr. Peltier's submission.

In light of the departmental review that took place in 1999 and given the absence of new facts since then, I am satisfied that Mr. Peltier was lawfully extradited to the United States.

In conclusion, I have provided a number of very good reasons why I cannot support Motion No. 232. The motion fails to appreciate the departmental review which was concluded in 1999 as well as the appeals both in Canada and in the United States.

[Justice, November 18th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, this is Restorative Justice Week. Restorative justice is a new way of looking at a very old concept of justice. It focuses on healing the societal relationships that have been broken by criminal actions. Restorative justice seeks participation by everyone affected by the crime, victims, offenders and the community, to recognize the harm done, achieve reconciliation, and restore harmony in the community.

It is a less adversarial approach that has been used historically and also in aboriginal justice systems. Principles of this approach were added to the Criminal Code in 1996. The Supreme Court of Canada has recognized its importance, and the Law Commission of Canada endorsed it in a 1999 paper.

The government is committed to solutions that work for our communities. Restorative justice is a concept that has valid applications for all of us to learn more about it and to explore new ways to look at our criminal justice system.

[Solicitation Laws, November 18th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to rise to speak on Motion No. 192. The motion proposes the creation of a special committee of the House “to review the solicitation laws”, that is, the criminal law regarding prostitution-related activities,“in order to improve the safety of sex-trade workers and communities overall, and to recommend changes that will reduce exploitation of and violence” done to sex trade workers.

First, I want to thank my hon. colleague from Vancouver East for having introduced the motion so that we can have this debate on what is clearly a very important issue. It is no secret that public concerns in the area of prostitution-related activities are growing with respect to the safety of the prostitutes and the harm caused to communities. It should also be noted that careful consideration of prostitution-related criminal law issues is important and is consistent with the government's commitment to vulnerable people, children included, and their protection.

I want to stress that the intent of the motion is admirable in that it tries to find a way to help a group of vulnerable persons and communities in our society that have consistently been marginalized, as the previous speaker indicated. However, I cannot emphasize enough that prostitution is a complex and multi-faceted problem. It must be addressed on many fronts, including legislative reform, community support, social interventions and other related issues.

In addition, the various impacts of prostitution on sex trade workers and on communities must be addressed in collaboration with a wide variety of partners, including other federal departments and agencies, provincial and territorial governments, particularly their departments responsible for dealing with justice-related issues and those responsible for social services and child welfare issues, and last but not least, municipal governments across the country.

Having said that, I wonder whether a special committee would be the best vehicle to elicit the collaboration of all these partners that must be involved in any attempt to address these issues. Clearly the cooperation of all these partners would be necessary to properly and usefully address all facets of prostitution-related issues.

I would like to take a few moments to give a somewhat brief and general outline of some of the government's past accomplishments and its ongoing work on this issue.

The Department of Justice has already undertaken various initiatives to address the issues linked to street prostitution, including the safety of sex trade workers and the reduction of harm to communities. For example, past legislative reform has included Bill C-27, in 1997, which amended the Criminal Code to create a new offence of aggravated procuring, to facilitate the use of police decoys for the apprehension of customers of prostitutes under the age of 18 and to make available special protections to young persons testifying against their exploiters, that is, such things as a screen, closed circuit television or videotaped evidence.

Another example of legislative reform is Bill C-51, in 1999, which amended the Criminal Code to extend the list of offences for which an authorization to intercept a private communication can be granted to include prostitution-related offences. This allows law enforcement to use electronic surveillance to investigate organized and telephone prostitution rings.

In relation to crime prevention and community-based projects, the Department of Justice has supported a number of initiatives, particularly throughout phase two of the national strategy on community safety and crime prevention, a $32 million per year program for safer communities. One initiative, for example, was the production of the “Stolen Lives” video, which documents the difficult lives of young sex trade workers in Vancouver and Calgary. Another example is the Department of Justice funding of some $489,000 to Victoria's Capital Region Action Team to address problems linked with youth prostitution in the Victoria area.

In the international arena, Canada has been involved in addressing the trafficking of women and children. For example, we have actively participated in the negotiation of the optional protocol to the convention on the rights of the child relating to the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in May 2000. Canada signed the optional protocol in November 2001.

As an example of working with our partners on this important issue, a federal-provincial-territorial working group on prostitution was established in 1992 by the federal-provincial-territorial deputy ministers of justice and reviewed legislation policy and practices concerning prostitution. It was co-chaired by the federal Department of Justice. Its final report was released in December 1998. It made recommendations on both legislation at the federal and provincial levels and on possible partnerships between government agencies. It underscored particularly the need for enhanced collaboration between justice and the child welfare systems.

As another concrete example of our partnerships in action, the federal Department of Justice co-hosted with the British Columbia child welfare services a national meeting of justice and child welfare officials in November 2000. Follow-up action to this national meeting has included the establishment of a network of justice and child welfare officials to allow for the prompt sharing of information on all issues related to children and youth involved in prostitution.

Additional follow-up action is overseen by the federal-provincial-territorial deputy ministers responsible for social services. Also, work is still being done, particularly to study issues and impacts relating to the possibility of decriminalizing street prostitution.

The Department of Justice will continue to build on past achievements and to work with its partners, including provincial, territorial and municipal governments and departments and agencies involved in justice related issues and in social services and child welfare issues.

Needless to say, this is a very complex matter and for all these reasons I support the intent of the motion in principle. However at this time I do not believe that a special committee of the House is the effective way for the development of recommendations and proposed changes to reduce the exploitation and violence done to sex trade workers.

[Child Pornography, November 8th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, this matter was dealt with this week at the federal-provincial-territorial meetings. In reviewing this, there obviously is a great deal of difference of opinion on whether that is the appropriate way to go.

From our perspective, we are looking at the broader nature of the problem and trying to deal with those would be predators.

[Child Pornography, November 8th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, we are continuing to work in every way possible to avoid the sexual exploitation of our children.

One of the issues that has been looked at over the last week has been the raising of the age of sexual consent. However it appears that what would be a better approach may be to deal with legislating against the predators themselves, and that is where we will look.

[Firearms Registry, November 8th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, as I just mentioned, the review process, which is ongoing with the minister, will look at issues of this nature. We have been providing tools for the law enforcement agencies and the law enforcement agencies are working with those tools. If more tools are needed, we will provide them.

[Firearms Registry, November 8th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice recently spoke about looking at the Criminal Code in its entirety. In that regard, last week he held a round table to look at the future of the Criminal Code. We will be looking at all these issues in the coming months.