Joy Smith

[Petitions, October 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to present petitions to the government from petitioners in Burlington, Oakville and Trois-Rivières on the subject of human trafficking.

The petitioners are asking the government to continue its good work to combat the trafficking of persons. This is a growing crime here in Canada. There are many signatures on these petitions.

[Petitions, October 17th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, today I present to the House three pages of petitions from people around Burlington, Ontario and Hamilton, Ontario. The petitioners ask that the government continue its work on stopping the human trafficking issue in Canada.

[Petitions, June 20th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, today I am presenting a petition from hundreds of constituents across Canada. The petitioners call upon the government to continue its good work in combating the horrendous crime of human trafficking.

[Criminal Code, June 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to rise today, albeit for three minutes, and speak to this very important legislation.

The bill is about accountability. We have a duty as elected representatives of the people of Canada to be accountable for the safety of our loved ones. We have a duty to be accountable with the taxes we receive. We have a duty to be accountable with the freedoms we have. We also have a duty to be effective. We need to ensure the bills we pass, the laws we implement and the programs we establish are effective.

This leaves us with a role that we must play wisely and carefully, so I would request that when examining and debating Bill C-21, we do so while remembering the importance and duty we have to be accountable and effective for all of Canada.

Gun crime is a serious issue in Canada; there is no doubt about that. There have been a number of recent incidents in my city of Winnipeg.

On Friday, May 25 of this year a 22-year-old man was shot early in the morning in Winnipeg's Spence Street neighbourhood. The man was out walking around 1:30 a.m. when he was approached by a pair of teenage boys. They reportedly made comments related to gang involvement before shooting the man in the upper body, police said.

Just this past weekend a 20-year-old man was gunned down on an inner city street. He died after being taken to hospital in critical condition.

Just an hour before in a separate incident, a 15-year-old girl and a 37-year-old man were shot and taken to hospital. The residents in the area where the shootings occurred were frightened and would only suggest the shootings might be gang related and they were fearful of repercussions.

The residents in my city of Winnipeg should not be afraid. They should not have to live in fear. We need to protect these citizens in an accountable and effective manner. That is why our government is taking steps to strengthen gun control by making it effective. We want to tackle the criminal misuse of guns, not hunters and farmers.

Bill C-21 will address the concerns of legitimate hunters and farmers as well as the legitimate concerns of the public for their safety and the rising gun crimes.

Bill C-21 will refocus our gun control efforts on what works in combating the criminal use of firearms by repealing the requirement to register non-restricted long guns and requiring firearms retailers to record all sales transactions of non-restricted firearms.

It is clear that requiring legitimate long gun users to register their guns is not a way to prevent gun crimes. Hunters and farmers are not criminals and should not be treated that way.

Long guns are not commonly used in gun crimes. In fact, there are over seven million registered long guns in Canada. However, as I said earlier tonight, of the 569 murders recorded in Canada in 2003, only two were committed with long guns known to be registered. That is only .3% of all the murders in 2003.

I would like to point out that it is not only the government side of the House that feels the long gun registry is ineffective. There are many members in the official opposition who feel the same and want to ensure that legitimate gun users are not penalized. I feel it is important to recognize their wisdom on this issue. The deputy leader of the Liberal opposition--

[Criminal Code, June 19th, 2007]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a member of Parliament and the mother of an RCMP officer who is on the streets tonight in his detachment, I talked to my son yesterday about this very thing. He and police officers on the street have told me that the gun registry needs to be shut down and that in regard to the cost overrun, the tally of over $1 billion, by the former government, those resources should be used for putting police resources on the street.

The long gun registry is only for the long guns that farmers, fishermen and everybody else use. As outlined in a study in 2005, out of 569 murders, two long guns were used. All the rest used were handguns. Handguns are already registered. Handguns are already licensed.

I think the member opposite and the Liberal members have lost a lot of credibility with police forces across Canada. Will she support this bill or not?

[Criminal Code, June 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, as the mother of an RCMP officer who is on the street tonight in his detachment, I can tell you that it would be a travesty for those police officers—

[Phthalate Control Act, June 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, it was very interesting to listen to the member's dialogue tonight. I would like to commend him for his concern for children and for people in terms of attitudes and this particular chemical. I am curious about what got the member interested in this. This is a relatively unknown chemical. Our family is very careful about the things that we eat and the chemicals that are added to food. I wonder if he would be so kind as to share that with the House.

[Justice, June 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, our government has taken action to increase the level of safety for vulnerable people in our society. We have brought forward legislation increasing the age of sexual consent from 14 to 16. We established a federal ombudsman for victims of crime. We eliminated the use of house arrest for people who commit serious crimes.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration say what action our government is taking to further assist victims of human trafficking who have come to Canada from abroad?

[Devils Lake Diversion Project, June 14th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, we have a national water strategy in place and dollars going toward the cleanup of Lake Winnipeg. I think we should centre on the problem-solving of this issue, not political debate on this issue tonight.

[Devils Lake Diversion Project, June 14th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, it is regrettable that the member opposite turns this into a political debate. Members opposite had 13 years to do something about this issue and they never did one solitary thing about it until the dying days of government.

Our government has put in $7 million for the Lake Winnipeg basin. We have a national—