House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2021, with 42% of the vote.
Business of Supply May 23rd, 2024
Madam Chair, what I can tell the member from Quebec is that the export of stolen vehicles from the port of Montreal is indeed a problem that we need to solve. However, the resale of vehicles is also happening across the country.
We made investments in the port to resolve this problem and we are already seeing results. The CBSA intercepted over 1,000 vehicles at the port of Montreal.
Business of Supply May 23rd, 2024
Madam Chair, it is critical to be supporting local law enforcement, and what we are doing on auto theft is not only proposing amendments to how it is financed through the feds and through the budget, both of which the members opposite are opposing, but also funding law enforcement to the tune of $121 million, which we announced on January 31. What that does is help in Ontario and Quebec with putting more officers on the ground, so they can deal with the pressing need to enhance law enforcement.
We are beefing up supports through the CBSA with $28 million at the border. We are providing $15 million for things like better Interpol information exchange. Through record investments of about $170 million, plus dedicated changes to the legislation, we are tackling this issue. The number of intercepts is up. We are trying to bring the number of auto thefts down.
This is a comprehensive problem, and it requires a comprehensive solution. I would hope the members opposite would get on board with the legislation.
Business of Supply May 23rd, 2024
Madam Chair, I think there are a lot of issues here that we need to really understand.
First of all, I do make the appointments for the superior court-level judges around the country, at the superior courts, the courts of appeal and even, sometimes, the Supreme Court of Canada and the federal courts. The administration of justice, pursuant to our constitution, indicates that the administration of justice is the purview and constitutional responsibility of the provinces, so what the parliamentary secretary was indicating is exactly correct. That relates to the courthouses, the court personnel and even the Crown attorneys, and I do appreciate that there are Crown attorneys and former Crown attorneys in the room right now.
Their hiring, firing and promotion are all dictated by provincial edicts, provincial budgetary allotments, etc. That also applies to court clerks, court ushers, court translators and court personnel. All of those aspects relate to the administration of justice. That is the province's purview, not my purview.
That being said, I have a strong working relationship with various attorneys general right across the country. That is really important. We are constantly addressing some of their needs. Legal aid was raised by the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford. By supplying legal aid, we are ensuring that there are fewer unrepresented litigants in these courts. Unrepresented litigants take longer to move through the system because they do not have the benefit of counsel.
Second, I would raise, for the edification of the members opposite, that in this rush to pursue mandatory minimums, many of which have been found unconstitutional, we actually present an obstacle towards pursuing a path of potential trial resolution. If an accused individual knows that they will be facing a penalty no matter what, they are more likely to proceed all the way through to trial, which results in more delays and more backlogs.
There are a number of features here that we are trying to address. We are addressing all of them. I am certainly doing my part with judicial appointments, but we need to be working collaboratively with the Crown attorneys and the provinces in overall administration of the system.
Business of Supply May 23rd, 2024
Madam Chair, let me be crystal clear to the parliamentary secretary, and I thank him for his work, that partisanship, donation history and political involvement have absolutely zero impact or role in the appointments process. When I am making a suggestion to pursue an appointment, there is no evidence that is put before me with respect to any donation history, political involvement or partisan activity.
I am pleased that this is a laughing matter for some of the lawyers opposite, but what I can say to these individuals is that 80% of the individuals who have actually been appointed, out of the 730 that we have appointed since 2015, have zero donation history of any kind. That is really critical to enhancing Canadians' confidence in the administration of justice in this country. I would say that I share that opinion.
I am actually delighted when I travel within this country, or even outside of this country, when people talk to me about the high quality of jurists that we have in Canada. We will continue to appoint jurists of the highest quality who have gone through that JAC process, who have come out as either recommended or highly recommended, because that preserves the integrity of the system and preserves Canadians' confidence in our judicial system. The fact that we are also, at the same time, reflecting the diversity of communities is an additional bonus. What I said earlier and will say again is that 50% of the appointments we have made are women. That is critical in terms of ensuring that all people see themselves reflected on the bench in Canada.
Business of Supply May 23rd, 2024
Madam Chair, extortion is a Criminal Code violation currently and there is already a mandatory minimum penalty that applies to repeat extortion with a firearm. The mandatory minimum is seven years. The maximum penalty for extortion is life imprisonment. With respect to not tolerating extortion, what we are doing is looking closely and trying to work with law enforcement officials to understand the nature of the problem, particularly in the South Asian community in B.C. and in Ontario, to target this in a more robust manner.
I would also encourage the member to look at what we are doing with Bill C-70, the foreign interference legislation that we recently tabled in this House, which looks at organized criminality that is being orchestrated by criminal elements that are operating abroad but manifesting here.
Business of Supply May 23rd, 2024
Madam Chair, we are very aware of Bill C-332. I thank the member for the fact that this bill was generated from his party, and also for the fact that there was a lot of collaborative work that was done to make strategic amendments to improve the content of that bill.
My understanding is that this bill is coming up for third reading, and we are very dedicated as a government and as a party to addressing issues of gender-based violence and intimate partner violence. Coercive control is part of that continuum. The fact that other nation-states with which we are allies have addressed this issue already prompts us to act at a faster pace to try and ensure that this bill becomes law as soon as possible, at least through its passage through the House of Commons and off to the Senate.
Business of Supply May 23rd, 2024
Madam Chair, I am pleased to see any efforts that deal with combatting hatred, which is unfortunately spiralling in terms of anti-Semitic incidents and Islamophobic incidents. There is a 130% rise in hate crimes in this country in the last five years. That informs the necessity for bills such as Bill C-63, the online harms bill, which will tackle things like hatred and its festering online, which has real-world consequences. It is very unfortunate that Canada ranks number one in the G7 for the number of deaths of Muslims in the last seven years, 11 in total, due to Islamophobic acts of hate.
What I would say, with respect to this bill, is that we are looking at it closely. I would also reiterate for the member's edification that we amended the hate propaganda provisions to include Holocaust denialism and willful promotion of anti-Semitism within the fold of sections 318 and 319, the hate propaganda offences. That was done within the last two years, I believe.
Business of Supply May 23rd, 2024
Madam Chair, I just want to reiterate for the member opposite, because it is really fundamental that he and every Canadian watching understand that the war crimes unit operates at arm's length from me. It does not take directions from me with respect to potential domestic law violations or international law violations. That is critical and really separates us as a nation-state that believes in democracy, having that important division—
Business of Supply May 23rd, 2024
Madam Chair, the purview of the Attorney General of Canada, with respect to the conduct of litigation, is not to wade into criminal prosecutions. There is a very strong line that has existed for over 20 years. That is why we have a Director of Public Prosecutions Act. That is why we have an arm's-length entity and an individual who is the director of public prosecutions so we do not have potential political direction being given about investigating crimes or laying charges in this country in any respect.
If people have evidence of a potential crime being committed, they should contact law enforcement, not the Office of the Attorney General of Canada.
Business of Supply May 23rd, 2024
Madam Chair, I can indicate that the Minister of Foreign Affairs has been very vocal with respect to the status at international law of the settlements and also taking action with respect to sanctioning extremist settlers. That happened last week.