Mr. Speaker, I will be speaking for the 20 minutes or close to it.
Perhaps before I get into the text of my speech I would like to rebut what the hon. member from across the way just said in his closing remarks. I do not know of any Reform member that is subtle about anything. Take that as it is.
I am pleased to rise today to speak to Bill C-55 which finally attempts to respond to the concerns that Canadians have regarding high risk offenders in our society. Too many convicted offenders injure or kill after their release and we have become weary of a justice system that caters to the rights of high risk offenders. Unfortunately this legislation does not go nearly far enough to ensure Canadian communities enjoy safety and protection from violent criminals.
While I find it encouraging that the government may actually recognize that the justice system currently fails to adequately deal with dangerous offenders, I am disappointed in the shallow nature of Bill C-55.
As I have stated in this House during debate on Bill C-53, which makes the ludicrous proposal to expand temporary absences for convicted criminals, and during the debate on Bill C-41, which proposes a strong-arm invasive approach to enforcing child support payments, there is a recurring theme in government legislation that is being brought before members for consideration. That theme is an election theme. Evidence of it can be found in the recent series of government bills that attempt a quick fix on hot issues.
Despite their ignorance of the fundamental problems plaguing child custody laws and many aspects of the justice system, the Liberals are ramming through legislation, any legislation, so they can tell voters during the next election that they did something to make changes that Canadians have been demanding.
We know that the Liberals have been content throughout the past three years to do very little in the way of substantial legislation, but with an election looming in their future they are scurrying to
appease voters in the areas that they have previously neglected. This includes the sorry state of our justice system. Canadians have been horrified with consequences resulting from the lenient treatment of dangerous, violent and repeat offenders. There have been demands for tougher sentencing, supervision and more legal options for the crown should it wish to seek dangerous offender status for someone convicted of crimes causing serious personal injury.
With one eye on the election, the Liberals have come up with Bill C-55, and like many Canadians, I am happy to see the government get tougher to any degree with these violent criminals. The bill does not include the fundamental changes required to effectively protect our communities from these individuals. To use an analogy, the proposed legislation may heal some superficial wounds but does little to stop the internal bleeding. With their usual kid glove approach to convicted criminals, the Liberals have barely scratched the surface. With a number of amendments this bill could actually make our streets safer.
I would like to discuss a few of the possible amendments. Reform has proposed that the bill be amended to allow the crown the right to seek dangerous offender status at any time during an offender's jail sentence. Bill C-55 suggests that the crown must give notice at the time of conviction that it may seek dangerous offender status for the convict. The crown will have six months after the conviction to apply for that status.
I do not see why there should be any limitation in seeking dangerous offender status for those who have caused serious personal injury to their victims. Who are we trying to protect: the victims or the violent offenders?
An hon. member opposite tried to clarify this point. I still believe that the hon. member was wrong in his assessment of Bill C-55. He used the example of a violent pedophile who is currently in jail. However, this bill will not prevent that individual from getting out of jail.
Reform has proposed an amendment to the bill which would require courts to automatically place dangerous offender status on anyone who commits a serious personal injury offence on two or more more separate occasions. Such criminals would be imprisoned for an indeterminate period of time.
Another glaring omission in Bill C-55 is the failure to specify the inclusion of pedophiles and sexual predators as dangerousoffenders. It has to be solidly and definitively stated in legislation that these despicable criminals, such as Paul Bernardo, are dangerous and a high risk to the safety of our children and to the safety of the entire country.
Bill C-55 also makes an attempt to remedy section 761 of the Criminal Code which allows for the review of indeterminate sentences for dangerous offenders after just three years. The proposed legislation would increase the period to seven years. I must admit that this is an uncharacteristically rational approach by the Liberals, but, again, it does not go far enough. Given the nature of these offences and in the interest of punishment that fits the crime and the protection of society, Reform has proposed that these sentences be reviewed after 15 years of indeterminate imprisonment.
As I said earlier, it seems as though the government emphasizes taking a softer approach with convicted criminals than it does with the rest of society. In the Liberal version of justice the rights of the criminal are given careful attention, while the rights of society are irrelevant.
We only have to look at the injustice that millions of innocent, law-abiding citizens in the country face because gun control legislation, rammed through by the government, severely impairs their personal freedom. The Liberals encourage minimal incarceration for criminals, but because of Bill C-68, their gun control bill, a law-abiding citizen can face up to 10 years in jail for failing to register a firearm. Section 104 of this draconian bill also allows an inspector to obtain a warrant to search an individual's home for a firearm, even if there is no evidence that a crime has been committed or is about to be committed. Section 104 of Bill C-68 has no place in the Canadian justice system.
Rejecting an individual's right to protect themselves, their home, their family and their property is a frightening prospect. Were the civil liberties and rights of legitimate gun owners ever considered? Were civil rights considered in the drafting of this bill?
Bill C-55 includes a judicial restraint provision to impose restraints on individuals which an attorney general suspects may commit a serious personal injury offence. This might involve the suspected individual being ordered to report to correctional officials or police on a regular basis, or participating in an electronic monitoring program. Note that I used the words "suspected" and "may". That means that a person acquitted by a court of law for any charge or a person who has never been charged with a criminal offence could be forced to undergo monitoring.
There is a great deal of similarity between this provision and section 104 of the gun control legislation in that both impose a restriction on citizens who have not been charged or convicted. We know the Liberals are reluctant to take such invasive measures against convicted criminals for fear of infringing on their rights. However, when an innocent person's rights may be violated, the Liberal concern for the protection of personal freedoms and personal liberty is curiously absent.
Is this the kind of treatment we should expect in a free and democratic society? Is it worth risking an individual's civil rights for technology that is not guaranteed to protect Canadians? Electronic monitoring systems are expensive and impractical in crowded cities where buildings occasionally block out signals.
This clause constitutes a broad, indiscriminate infringement of personal liberty which violates the civil rights of individuals and should be entirely struck from Bill C-55.
It is puzzling that the idea of electronically monitoring unconvicted and uncharged individuals was introduced by the same justice minister who has steadfastly refused to repeal section 745 of the Criminal Code. Dangerous killers, such as Clifford Olson, have the minister to thank for preserving a law that gives them the right to have their sentences reviewed after just 15 years. This tells Canadians that the Liberals are not making the protection of society a priority.
On the other hand, the same minister attempts to justify the infringement of civil rights of innocent Canadians by claiming that the protection of society is paramount. This contradictory legislation is another result of the piecemeal, quick fix Liberal election strategy. It has been reported that even senior officials in the justice department and close friends of the minister tried to persuade him to drop this clause. Reformers think the minister should have listened to them.
The identified problem that the minister was attempting to address was the ineffectiveness of some restraining orders, but how will this clause be used in practice? What safeguards will be in place to prevent future abuse? Admittedly, there is a problem with restraining orders. The most vulnerable members of our society are the ones most at risk from what has become known as stalkers. There are a number of well documented cases where restraining orders have proved to be completely ineffective.
I believe the minister was attempting to solve the problem of improving the effectiveness of restraining orders by imposing electronic monitoring as a means to track these individuals. I support the need for something like this. We also must be cognizant of the possible abuse of this clause if it is not itself carefully monitored.
Another amendment I would like to discuss which will improve the effectiveness of this bill is the elimination of clause 15. It is the opinion of the Reform Party that all Canadians should be treated equally. This means that no individual or group should be given special status. The Liberals are rather fond of conferring special status on certain groups and this only results in inequality.
Under clause 15 aboriginal communities will have the right to receive notice of the release of a high risk offender into their community and the right to become involved in planning for that release. They are given this special privilege while other Canadian communities do not receive such notice or opportunity.
There is no logical or justifiable reason to provide these privileges to one community and not to another. Canadians from all communities have been requesting notification procedures for the release of high risk offenders. Why not enact legislation to implement these measures for all communities? This clause exemplifies piecemeal legislation that seeks to appease certain groups on selected hot button issues and it should either be scrapped or expanded to include notification to all communities.
I reiterate that Bill C-55 has some potential to make a difference. However, it comes up short in keeping our streets safe from violent criminals. I ask myself and many Canadians are asking themselves this question: What is stopping the Liberals from developing justice policies that keep these offenders in jail?
One issue that might answer this query is the severe over crowding and financial burden of the prison system. The Liberals are attempting to reduce corrections costs by letting criminals go free and therefore making more space available. They are instituting lenient parole legislation and letting violent, dangerous criminals out of jail. I emphasize this. There is absolutely no justification for allowing these high risk individuals to roam our streets. Second, it is irresponsible to encourage early release or expanded temporary absences for what the Liberals call lesser criminals, as we saw in Bill C-53.
What will really reduce the number of these types of criminals sitting in jails at taxpayers expense is deterrence. While the government strategy has been to rehabilitate these convicts, we have watched the prison population grow by 22 per cent in the last five years. This is despite the fact that the number of convicts out on probation rose by 40 per cent between 1990 and 1994, and 80 per cent of the 154,000 convicts in the correctional system were out on some form of community supervision in 1994.
The solution to overcrowding and financial problems in the prison system is deterrence. Hard jail time for those convicted of the so-called lesser offences will deter them from committing more crimes and deter those who might commit similar crimes.
Mandatory work, something I mentioned earlier, some outside during winter under conditions that taxpaying, working Canadians face every day, will do more to dissuade these individuals from a life of crime than the longest leisurely stay at a cottage style prison. Then there will be plenty of space and resources available for dangerous, violent, high risk offenders who deserve to rot in jail for raping, mutilating and killing their victims.
