Arif Virani

[Carbon Pricing, October 11th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday was indeed a momentous day for Canada because yesterday the pharmacare bill became law in this country. This means hope for 12 million Canadians. For those affected by diabetes and for women struggling with the cost of contraception, help is now on the way. For the first time ever in Canadian history, the Government of Canada will be helping to bring down the cost of medication and helping Canadians with affordability.

It is a historic day that we should all celebrate in this place.

[Innovation, Science and Industry, October 10th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, every Canadian watching right now wants parliamentarians to do their job. The job of the opposition is to hold the government to account. The job of the opposition is not to direct the police. Members do not need to take my word for it. How about we hear from the commissioner of the RCMP himself, who said, “There is significant risk that the Motion could be interpreted as a circumvention of normal investigative processes and Charter protections.” He went on to say, “In a free and democratic society, this ensures that the government cannot direct or influence the actions of law enforcement”. We agree with the RCMP. It is time these guys started listening to the cops.

[Foreign Affairs, October 10th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, we unequivocally condemn the acts in Vancouver that were launched by Samidoun. Acts like burning the flag, chanting “death to Canada”, denying the events of October 7 and celebrating terrorism are unacceptable in this country. With respect to Samidoun, we heard the Minister of Public Safety reference this yesterday. We have asked for an expedited review, because decisions of this importance are always made on the advice of national security agencies.

[Innovation, Science and Industry, October 9th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I have a lot of respect for the member opposite because he usually stands up for institutions, including this place. What he is not standing up for right now is the independence of law enforcement in this country. The independence of law enforcement is pivotal.

What my colleague emphasized is that usually my friends opposite are listening to the police. This is what the deputy commissioner of the RCMP said on the news yesterday: “It is a very dangerous situation.... [T]he rule of law is predicated upon a separation between what [Parliament is] doing and the law enforcement agencies, in this case the RCMP.”

We are listening to RCMP commissioners and former commissioners. I wish the member opposite would do the same.

[Public Safety, October 9th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, we, on this side of the House, have invested in our borders and our police forces. We have also imposed tougher penalties for crimes like auto theft.

I mentioned this yesterday, but I will repeat it today: If anyone believes that bail is a problem, they should ask governments like Mr. Legault's about it. They should ask how many Crown prosecutors they have, how many police officers they have and how much space they have in their detention centres. Those are the answers we need to fix the problem.

[Innovation, Science and Industry, October 9th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, three times in this question period, so far, I have heard Conservatives talk about obstructing justice. Let us talk about how justice actually operates in a democracy.

When law enforcement has a reasonable suspicion of an individual or an entity, it will then seek a search warrant from a court so it can invade that person's privacy and obtain the documents. Instead of pursuing the normal court processes, the Conservatives are saying they are going to subvert all of that for the purposes of partisan gain.

This is what we do in a democracy: We stand up for judicial processes and we stand up for the Charter of Rights. We will always do that on this side of the House.

[Innovation, Science and Industry, October 9th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, three times in this question period I have heard the Conservatives talk about obstructing justice. Let us talk about how justice works in this country. When law enforcement wants to prosecute an individual—

[Innovation, Science and Industry, October 8th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I enjoy the interventions from the member opposite, but I also appreciate his experience as a former Crown prosecutor. He used to work closely with the police. What he would recollect from his past career is that the police operate independently, independently from him as a former Crown and certainly independently from politicians. Why do they do that? So we can have confidence in our institutions in the country. Who does not have confidence? People who live under authoritarian regimes.

Instead of emulating authoritarianism, how about the member joins this side and learns how to fight against it?

[Innovation, Science and Industry, October 8th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, every time I meet a Conservative, I have to search for some semblance of reason. When we talk about what is going on here, let us think about why your ruling said to send it back to the committees. Your ruling said that because this has never been done. What happens normally when we ask for documents in law enforcement? We go to a court of law. We do not go into a partisan arena, such as the House of Commons, because a court of law, a judge, weighs things called charter interests, like the expectation of privacy, like the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. Those are important considerations. We will stand by them every time.

[Public Safety, October 8th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, the legislation my colleague just mentioned, the act resulting from Bill C-75, increased penalties for auto theft. He voted against it.

Second, the people who grant bail are the judges appointed by Mr. Legault, so if there is a question or a problem with the administration of justice, the member should talk to Mr. Legault about the number of lawyers, court backlogs, space in detention centres and the fact that there may be some problems with the decisions being made.