Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the annual progress report on the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2021, with 43% of the vote.
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act June 21st, 2022
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the annual progress report on the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.
Business of the House June 20th, 2022
Madam Speaker, I request that the ordinary hour of daily adjournment of the next sitting be 12 o'clock midnight, pursuant to order made Monday, May 2.
Justice June 20th, 2022
Mr. Speaker, I would first like to thank my colleague from Saint-Laurent for her question and for her dedication to this issue.
I want to clarify one very important point: Being intoxicated is not a defence for criminal acts such as sexual assault. That was the law before the Supreme Court decisions and it is still the law today.
Bill C-28 amends the Criminal Code so that in the rare case of extreme intoxication, someone in a state of negligent self-induced extreme intoxication can be criminally responsible.
We will continue to build a justice system that is more effective, fairer, and worthy of victims' trust.
Justice June 10th, 2022
Mr. Speaker, Bill C‑5 is designed specifically to address the issue of Black and indigenous overrepresentation in our criminal justice system, by giving judges the flexibility to impose a sentence that is proportional to the crime.
We will support victims. We are supporting victims. Serious offences will always have serious consequences. We need to address this overrepresentation, and that is exactly what we are doing.
Justice June 10th, 2022
Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth on what the hon. member is saying. Bill C-21 attacks violent crime, attacks gang crime, attacks trafficking in arms and raises the maximum penalties available for certain sentences. If he is talking about repeat offenders, those offenders do not have access to minimum mandatory penalties. In fact, they go the other way. Public safety is not going to be negatively affected. In fact, it is going to be enhanced by allowing for serious offences to be treated seriously and for more flexibility at—
Justice June 10th, 2022
Mr. Speaker, our government is moving forward to make the criminal justice system safer for communities, make it better for victims and make it much more fair and just. What we are doing with Bill C-5 is attacking overrepresentation in the criminal justice system of Black and indigenous people by taking those offenders who do not pose a risk to public security and making conditional sentence orders available to more crimes and by reducing around 20 minimum mandatory penalties. We are also raising the sentences for serious—
Justice June 8th, 2022
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Harper's tough-on-crime policy was a complete failure. We have managed to fill our prisons with indigenous people and Black people. We have prevented the system from working properly, because minimum sentences slow down the justice system.
Around the globe, and especially in the United States, where the Conservatives drew their inspiration 15 years ago, authorities are doing away with minimum sentences because they do not work. We are here to do a better job of protecting society.
Justice June 8th, 2022
Mr. Speaker, it is difficult to watch the opposition continue to support Harper's tough-on-crime policy, which was a total failure.
What we are doing is continuing to punish serious offences in a serious way. What we are doing is taking a different approach when public safety is not threatened or at risk in order to help communities and victims.
Justice June 8th, 2022
Mr. Speaker, serious offences will always be punished in a serious manner.
The situation that my colleague just described is not a situation targeted by Bill C‑5. This bill addresses situations that are not a threat to public safety. Bill C‑5 seeks to address the overrepresentation of Black and indigenous people in the justice system.
That is precisely what we are doing.
Justice June 8th, 2022
Mr. Speaker, this attack on minimum mandatory penalties, coming from a lawyer, is something that is hard to understand. The situations that he describes are not the situations that would be touched by minimum mandatory penalties.
Minimum mandatory penalties are being abandoned because they fail. It is a failed so-called tough-on-crime policy. The jurisdictions in the United States that inspired the Harper government to bring in these minimum mandatory penalties are abandoning minimum mandatory penalties, one by one.
Serious crime will always be punished seriously. There is no threat to—