House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2021, with 47% of the vote.
Indigenous Affairs September 17th, 2024
Mr. Speaker, ensuring that justice is done for victims and their families is crucially important. It is something I know the minister takes incredibly seriously, and we will continue to work on this specific case with her.
When it comes to dealing with systemic racism in policing, this is a crucial issue that we are focused on addressing. It is something we have made progress on, but by no means is it complete. There is much more work to do, and we are committed to doing it.
Recent Deaths of First Nations People During Police Interventions September 16th, 2024
Mr. Speaker, it is incredibly ironic that members of the Conservative Party often criticize the spending and funding of indigenous-led programming, then actually criticize, saying we are not doing enough, and then vote against providing funding that actually goes to help these communities.
It is also interesting to note that Conservatives vote, time and time again, against providing funding and support. Instead of recommending programs that could also help, Conservative members talk about waste in these programs or say that these programs are not being delivered.
I have met with several communities where progress is being made. There is, of course, more to be done. However, let us not forget the fact that the Conservatives did not even want to look into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, which is shameful.
We must all work together to produce better outcomes for indigenous people in this country. It is shameful when Conservatives continually vote against that work.
Recent Deaths of First Nations People During Police Interventions September 16th, 2024
Mr. Speaker, this work is incredibly important and, frankly, crucial.
However, as the member opposite has stated, it is complex. It is complex in the sense that it is not for the federal government to implement what it feels is best. This is a nation-to-nation partnership, and we must walk together. It is incredibly important to note that indigenous communities across this country will have different needs and that our government must address each and every one of those needs where communities are at.
We are deeply committed to doing so. We have made significant progress. However, until all of these issues are resolved, it is work that must continue to happen.
Recent Deaths of First Nations People During Police Interventions September 16th, 2024
Mr. Speaker, as I said in my remarks, the loss of lives of these members of communities, friends and family is truly tragic. Canada must do better.
We, as a government, are committed to doing better. We want to work with members on all sides of the House to do so, to find meaningful solutions and to move forward to end the systemic racism that we have experienced in this country and that indigenous people continue to experience.
We are deeply committed to moving forward, so that tragedies like this do not continue to happen.
Recent Deaths of First Nations People During Police Interventions September 16th, 2024
Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Winnipeg North.
I would like to thank the member for Nunavut for bringing forward this motion today to convene this emergency debate on the state of policing in our country and what we as parliamentarians can do to combat systemic racism that exists in so many of our institutions, including policing.
Six indigenous people have been killed across Canada in interactions with police since late August. Their names are Jack Charles Piche, Hoss Lightning, Tammy Bateman, Jason West, Danny Knife and Steven “Iggy” Dedam. This loss is unimaginable, and I would like to extend my sincere sympathies to the families, friends and communities that have lost someone they love.
There is no doubt that indigenous people experience systemic racism and disproportionate outcomes within the criminal justice system, including police. In fact, an indigenous person in Canada is more than 10 times more likely to be shot and killed by a police officer. Indigenous people are 56% more likely to be victims of crime than others, and in 2016, indigenous people represented 25% of the national male, and 35% of the national female, prison population. That has been and continues to be our national shame.
Discrimination on the basis of race or as a result of any other form of bias is unacceptable and abhorrent. In the motion from the member for Nunavut, she calls on all of us as parliamentarians to show leadership and take responsibility to keep our institutions accountable. She rightly points out that people across Canada must know that their parliament is addressing the institutional violence in their communities as a critical and immediate priority.
I agree with her, and tonight I hope to be part of a debate where members from every corner of the country come together with their suggestions on what we can and must do to address the violence that our institutions perpetuate upon our citizens. However, regardless of what ideas or solutions are presented here tonight, the fundamental truth of why we are having this debate will not change: over the course of 11 days, six first nations people have been killed by police. That truth rightfully will make a lot of Canadians angry, and I am angry.
Now, we must ask ourselves what we can do to address immediate measures to save indigenous lives today. The Government of Canada remains committed to working collaboratively with first nations in provinces and territories to ensure that first nations police services are supported with equitable and sustainable funding. The calls for justice from the national inquiry point toward the need for urgent reform to policing for indigenous communities. In budget 2021, we announced $861 million over five years, beginning in 2021-22, and $145 million ongoing to support culturally responsive policing and community safety services in indigenous communities.
These funds will stabilize and enhance the first nations and Inuit policing program by investing in self-administered policing services and provide an enhanced level of policing to more communities. We are also stabilizing and enhancing the first nations and Inuit policing program by enhancing RCMP policing services funded through this program.
These investments were further strengthened in budget 2024. The Minister of Public Safety was clear at the July 2024 AFN assembly that he is committed to co-developing legislation that ensures that first nations police services have equitable and sustainable federal funding. The minister's mandate to co-develop the legislation includes that provincial policing legislation would continue to apply to first nations police services. This ensures that these police services have clear operational standards while providing the necessary funding.
In addition to our investments in indigenous policing, budget 2021 announced up to $64.4 million over five years and $18.1 million ongoing to enhance indigenous-led crime prevention strategies and community safety services, including through the aboriginal community safety planning initiative and expanded funding through the northern and indigenous crime prevention fund.
The ACSPI supports indigenous community healing through a facilitated, community-driven process that works to address multiple safety and wellness issues. The community safety planning process fosters collaboration with government, provincial and territorial partners, local municipal governments and services and industry partners to address issues in the safety plans.
The ACSPI has supported close to 60 communities in defining their safety concerns and finding solutions to respond to root causes and current aggravating factors. In addition to the work that the government has and will continue to do to co-develop legislation, we have also introduced legislation that looks to provide redress for individuals who have been subjected to unfair treatment by either the RCMP or the CBSA.
Bill C-20 is an important and urgent piece of legislation because it would contribute to the government's efforts toward reconciliation with indigenous people. It has the potential to increase the trust and confidence of indigenous people in our law enforcement agencies. We have all heard stories of incidents that some, especially indigenous people, experience at the hands of the RCMP and CBSA, incidents that range from allegations of inappropriate or disrespectful comments to the use of excessive force, even including sexual misconduct. This is especially true for indigenous people, for whom the experiences with these agencies have been historically traumatizing.
While the situation has evolved and improved over the years, there remain significant challenges, but Bill C-20 was an important step forward and must be adopted. It would contribute to rebuilding trust between our law enforcement agencies and the people they serve, especially indigenous people, and increase the ability of Parliament to hold the minister to account for the way the RCMP and CBSA serve those populations.
It would also support the government's commitment to build a renewed nation-to-nation relationship with indigenous peoples based on the recognition of rights, respect and partnership. It would do so by ensuring there is a robust, independent review body in place to which members of the public can turn should they have complaints about their experience with the RCMP or the CBSA. It would also ensure that the new commission, the PCRC, is composed of members who represent the diversity of the people they would serve, including indigenous people.
At the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security we heard from various witnesses during its study of Bill C-20, and there is a lack of data around law enforcement activities, which makes it difficult to identify and respond to systemic issues. In particular, the committee heard from Mr. Natan Obed, president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. Mr. Obed highlighted the need to not only have a robust review body in place to hold enforcement accountable, but also “to be able to inform this body of how to improve policing and broader outcomes for our communities”. This is exactly what was envisioned in Bill C-20. The information would be particularly useful to help us understand and respond to systemic issues in law enforcement activities. Findings of the commission would also support learning and training for the members of our valued law enforcement agencies.
One more feature included in the bill that might have passed under the radar but which I believe is important to mention in the context of reconciliation with indigenous peoples is the recognition within the bill of an indigenous complaint resolution mechanism. Indeed, the bill would provide for PCRC to respond annually on the number of complaints from individuals detained by the CBSA that have been resolved through the reconciliation process with indigenous peoples.
Bill C-20 would include transformative provisions that would have the ability to improve the way our law enforcement agencies work, especially with indigenous and other vulnerable communities. This is just one example of additional work that we are doing to improve law enforcement agencies' interactions with indigenous people.
Again, I would like to thank the member for Nunavut for her work in convening this important debate here tonight.
Questions on the Order Paper September 16th, 2024
Mr. Speaker, cybercrime investigations are complex and multijurisdictional, especially given that cybercriminals can perpetrate their actions from anywhere in the world. Therefore, it is essential that all relevant parties work together in a coordinated fashion to better protect Canadians.
Recognizing the importance of strengthening Canada’s capacity to counter cybercrime, in 2020, the Government of Canada provided the RCMP with approximately $137.5 million to establish the national cybercrime coordination centre, or NC3, to work with domestic and international law enforcement and other partners to investigate and combat cybercrime.
The RCMP has also invested an additional $78.9 million to increase its federal policing capacity, including establishing specialist cybercrime teams across the country.
The RCMP NC3’s ability to collect, analyze, share and coordinate international requests with domestic police agencies for assistance will improve as the program continues to work towards its full operating capability in 2024-25, including the ongoing implementation of a new case management system, referred to as the national cybercrime solution, to collect, analyze and exchange operational cybercrime data with law enforcement partners domestically and internationally.
The RCMP undertook an extensive preliminary search in order to determine the amount of information that would fall within the scope of the question and the amount of time that would be required to prepare a comprehensive response. The level of detail of the information requested is not systematically tracked in a centralized database. The RCMP is a decentralized organization comprised of over 700 detachments in 150 communities across the country. The RCMP concluded that producing and validating a comprehensive response to this question would require a manual collection of information that is not possible in the time allotted, and this could lead to the disclosure of incomplete and misleading information.
Questions on the Order Paper September 16th, 2024
Mr. Speaker, cybercrime investigations are complex and multi-jurisdictional, especially given that cybercriminals can perpetrate their actions from anywhere in the world. Therefore, it is essential that all relevant parties work together in a coordinated fashion to better protect Canadians.
Recognizing the importance of strengthening Canada’s capacity to counter cybercrime, in 2020, the Government of Canada provided the RCMP with approximately $137.5 million to establish the national cybercrime coordination centre, NC3, to work with domestic and international law enforcement and other partners to investigate and combat cybercrime. The RCMP has also invested an additional $78.9 million to increase its federal policing capacity, including by establishing specialist cybercrime teams across the country.
The NC3’s ability to collect, analyze, share and coordinate international requests with domestic police agencies for assistance will improve as the program continues to work toward its full operating capability in 2024-25, including with the ongoing implementation of a new case management system, referred to as the national cybercrime solution, to collect, analyze and exchange operational cybercrime data with law enforcement partners domestically and internationally.
The RCMP undertook an extensive preliminary search to determine the amount of information that would fall within the scope of the question and the amount of time that would be required to prepare a comprehensive response. The level of detail of the information requested is not systematically tracked in a centralized database. The RCMP is a decentralized organization comprising over 700 detachments in 150 communities across the country. The RCMP concluded that producing and validating a comprehensive response to this question would require a manual collection of information that is not possible in the time allotted, and this could lead to the disclosure of incomplete and misleading information.
Questions on the Order Paper September 16th, 2024
Mr. Speaker, the RCMP does not have the ability to report solely on “pure cybercrime” offences, which are crimes that target technology itself and can only be committed using computers, networks and digital devices. Common offences include ransomware, malware and distributed denial of service attacks.
Some information on cybercrime statistics is available on the Statistics Canada website at https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510000201. The information reported on the Statistics Canada website contains the information by every police force in Canada, including the RCMP.
Recognizing the importance of strengthening Canada’s capacity to counter cybercrime, in 2020, the Government of Canada provided the RCMP with approximately $137.5 million to establish the national cybercrime coordination centre, NC3, to work with domestic and international law enforcement and other partners to investigate and combat cybercrime.
The RCMP has also invested an additional $78.9 million to increase its federal policing capacity, including by establishing specialist cybercrime teams across the country.
With regard to (a) (b) and (e), the RCMP undertook an extensive preliminary search to determine the amount of information that would fall within the scope of the question and the amount of time that would be required to prepare a comprehensive response. The level of detail of the information requested is not systematically tracked in a centralized database. The RCMP is a decentralized organization comprising over 700 detachments in 150 communities across the country. The RCMP concluded that producing and validating a comprehensive response to this question would require a manual collection of information that is not possible in the time allotted, and this could lead to the disclosure of incomplete and misleading information.
With regard to (c), (d), (f), (g) and (h), the RCMP does not have this information.
Questions on the Order Paper September 16th, 2024
Mr. Speakers, Elections Canada’s mandate is to administer elections and make sure Canadians can exercise their democratic rights to register, vote and be a candidate. Regarding cyber threats and cyber security, the agency has extensive coordination with security agencies and partners, including the Communications Security Establishment, and continually evolves its security infrastructure.
Safeguarding the integrity of the election requires a robust ecosystem that is much larger than only Elections Canada. The agency works during and outside of the electoral period to coordinate with other federal organizations to share information and detect and respond to any threats to the integrity of an election. This includes Communications Security Establishment Canada, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Public Safety Canada, Global Affairs Canada, and the Commissioner of Canada Elections, all of which have distinct and important roles to play in protecting the integrity of the electoral process. Some threats to elections reach beyond the realm of electoral management and come in many different forms and target different stakeholders, including Elections Canada and election workers, as well as electors, political entities, and other organizations. As such, the security agencies and partners that Elections Canada coordinates with play a vital role in identifying, understanding, adapting, and mitigating or eliminating threats to the electoral process.
Elections Canada maintains a strong security position and abides by government-wide best practices, including: adhering to Government of Canada security standards; implementing security by design, making security a foundational part of every new IT system or process that we develop; ensuring all new technology solutions are designed to meet the stringent Government of Canada cyber security suite of policies and standards; and continually training employees and field staff on how to safeguard information and practice good cyber safety.
Elections Canada’s holistic approach to security means there are no specific costs to detail for the topics listed in sub question (a), as these costs are built into the various project and general IT costs that are undertaken by the agency as part of our overall security infrastructure. Elections Canada’s security approach also consistently evolves to match the threat landscape and advice from security agencies and partners.
With respect to the important issues detailed in sub question (a), and in particular threats arising out of the use of artificial intelligence and deep fakes, Elections Canada has been and continues to be active in engaging domestic and international partners to identify mitigation strategies. This includes the organization, in partnership with Elections Ontario, of a conference in January 2024 with Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial Chief Electoral Officers to discuss AI and its possible future impacts on the electoral environment and gain insights from invited experts from Canada and the US. The Chief Electoral Officer of Canada has also engaged with the Government and members of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) on these matters and welcomes the opportunity to further discuss them within the context of Bill C-65, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act.
Lastly, it is important to note that candidates, political parties, and third parties also have a role to play in this area and can do so by understanding and adapting to the threats they face, protecting their IT infrastructure and data, ensuring the information about the electoral process that they share is accurate, and promoting digital literacy and critical thinking.
More information on Elections Canada’s work in this area, and the threats to the election that the agency has identified, can be found on our website, Election Integrity and Security – Elections Canada, at https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=int&document=index&lang=e, and in Elections Canada’s Institutional Report, prepared for the Public Inquiry on Foreign Interference, at https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=res&dir=rep/oth/foin&document=p1&lang=e.
Questions on the Order Paper September 16th, 2024
Mr. Speaker, the RCMP undertook an extensive preliminary search in order to determine the amount of information that would fall within the scope of the question and the amount of time that would be required to prepare a comprehensive response. The level of detail of the information requested is not systematically tracked in a centralized database. The RCMP is a decentralized organization comprised of over 700 detachments in 150 communities across the country. The RCMP concluded that producing and validating a comprehensive response to this question would require a manual collection of information that is not possible in the time allotted, and this could lead to the disclosure of incomplete and misleading information.