Karen McCrimmon

[National Capital Commission, March 12th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, maintaining a strong working relationship with our municipal partners is an important component of this government's mandate. As the member of Parliament for Kanata—Carleton, I understand the special importance of working hand in hand with the City of Ottawa on matters that affect our region.

As the minister responsible for the NCC, the Minister of Public Services and Procurement recently met with the mayor of the City of Ottawa. Could the minister please tell us how that meeting went?

[High Technology in Kanata, February 21st, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I have stood here before and spoken of the amazing technology advancements that are taking place in Kanata, Canada's largest high-technology park. The future of technology in Kanata and Canada has never been brighter. Merge Robotics and the Earl of March Lions are just two of the local robotics clubs made up of young students mentored by dedicated engineers, scientists, business leaders and talented university students.

Two exciting events will be taking place soon.

The first is the 2020 Robot Reveal and Open House to be held February 26 between 6:30 and 8:30 at the Beaverbrook public library in Kanata. The Merge Robotics students will be on hand to show off their new robot.

Also, for the first time, Ottawa will be hosting a robotics competition at Carleton University, from March 13 to March 15. Many local teams are participating. This event is free to the public.

I encourage everyone to come out and encourage these young people. The future is bright.

[Women and Gender Equality, January 31st, 2020]

Madam Speaker, a recent Statistics Canada report shows that women are still much more likely than men to experience gender-based violence and unwanted sexual behaviour at work and at school.

This type of behaviour is clearly unacceptable.

Can the Minister for Women and Gender Equality update this House on what this government is doing to end gender-based violence in Canada?

[Parole System, June 19th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to participate in this debate, and I would like to thank the hon. member for Milton for moving this motion.

The motion comes just short weeks after Victims and Survivors of Crime Week. Members may know the objectives of that week.

The first objective is to raise awareness across Canada about the issues facing victims and survivors. They and their families must be treated with courtesy, compassion and respect at all stages of the criminal justice process. Victims, survivors and their families also have an important role in helping to ensure that justice is done, that during the parole process, for example, reliable and relevant facts about parole can be made.

The second goal of this special week is to let victims and their families know about the services, programs and laws in place to help and support them.

The motion before us states that:

...the government should amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act prior to the next election, so as to provide victims with an explanation of how dates are determined for offenders’ eligibility for temporary absences, releases and parole.

I will point out that information about offender eligibility dates is provided to victims already, but it is always worth examining whether there is room for improvement.

That said, the government already provides victims with useful and timely information in a number of ways.

In fact, last week, the government announced an important new step, a new victim outreach strategy to ensure that more victims would be aware of the information available to them and the role they could play in the corrections and conditional release process.

There was a great deal of collaboration in creating this strategy. Correctional Services Canada worked with federal partners, including the Parole Board of Canada, Public Safety Canada's National Office for Victims and the Department of Justice Canada, in consultation with victims and survivors. The result is a suite of communication tools to inform the public and victims of the resources and services available to them. The tools include infographics, videos and a social media campaign.

Another way that victims can receive information is through the victims portal. The portal is a secure online service, available to registered victims to receive information about the offender who harmed them. They can submit information electronically, including their victims' statements. These communication tools help victims stay informed, engaged and empowered to make informed decisions.

The Public Safety Canada portfolio is also working to ensure that victims of federal offenders have a voice in the federal criminal justice system.

For example, there are now 8,000 victims registered with Correctional Services Canada and the Parole Board of Canada. They are entitled to receive over 50 types of notifications. Last year, they received 160,000 pieces of information.

Along with more avenues to obtain information and give their input, victims have access to resources such as dedicated victim service officers, who provide victims with information about correctional services and the offender who harmed them.

Victim service officers explain to victims how correctional planning works and how decisions are made. They provide victims with information on the offender's progress toward meeting their correctional plan. They advise when parole hearings are scheduled.

It is fair to say that the rest of the motion aims to ensure that victims are treated even more fairly and respectfully by our criminal justice system. For decades, Canada's criminal justice system has been getting better at attending to the needs of victims and survivors, whether it is a matter of providing information, delivering support, or simply showing empathy and respect.

When Correctional Service of Canada prepares an offender's case for a parole hearing, for example, it takes into account the concerns that victims have raised in their victim's statements. Last year, victims presented over 300 statements at parole hearings. We are also taking steps to make the parole hearing process less traumatic for victims and survivors.

Members may recall that as part of the implementation plan for the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights, the National Office for Victims hosted consultations on the victims right to information, participation and protection in the corrections and conditional release system.

One of the early issues discussed at the round tables was the parole hearing process as legislated in the Corrections and Conditional Release Act.

Under its terms, victims unable to attend the parole hearing can have access to an audio recording of the hearing. At round tables held by the National Office for Victims, we heard that attending a parole hearing could be traumatic, such that afterwards many victims did not have a clear sense of what exactly was discussed.

Why not make the audio recordings available to those who have attended the parole hearing as well as those who could not attend? Why not enable them to listen again at a time and a place of their choosing?

That is one of the proposed amendments we have included in Bill C-83, an act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, to strengthen victims roles in the criminal justice system.

This is just one way we can increase the number of avenues through which victims can obtain information and participate in the processes of the criminal justice system. There is always more that can be done, but we continue to take steps in the right direction.

One of the most important things we can do is prevent people from becoming victims in the first place.

The national crime prevention strategy provides leadership on ways to prevent and reduce crime among at-risk populations and vulnerable communities. The strategy's goal is to mitigate the underlying factors that might put individuals at risk of offending in the first place.

The Government of Canada is making up to $94 million available over five years to develop inclusive, diverse and culturally adapted crime prevention projects right across Canada.

The national crime prevention strategy is another example of this government's efforts to reduce crime and by the same token, reduce the number of victims.

The government will continue to work with all our partners to support victims in every way possible.

Once again, I would like to thank the hon. member for introducing this motion and I look forward to continued debate on this very important topic.

[Corrections and Conditional Release Act, June 14th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-83 has two main objectives.

First, it will allow federal inmates to be separated from the general prison population when necessary for security reasons. Second, it will ensure that these inmates have access to the interventions, programs and mental health care they need to safely return to the general prison population and make progress toward successful rehabilitation and reintegration.

The bill would achieve these objectives by replacing the current system of administrative segregation with structured intervention units. In SIUs, inmates will be entitled to twice as much time out of their cells, four hours daily instead of two, and two hours of meaningful human contact every day. We have allocated $448 million over six years to ensure that the correctional service has the resources to provide programs and interventions to inmates in SIUs and to implement this new safety system effectively. That funding includes $150 million for mental health care, both in SIUs and throughout the federal corrections system.

Bill C-83 was introduced last October. It was studied by the public safety committee in November and reported back to the House in December with a number of amendments. There were further amendments at report stage in February, including one from the member for Oakville North—Burlington, that added a system of binding external review. In recent months, hon. senators have been studying the bill and have now sent it back to us with proposed amendments of their own.

A high level of interest in Bill C-83 is indicative of the importance of the federal corrections system and of the laws and policies that govern it. Effective and humane corrections are essential to public safety. They are a statement of who we are as a country. In the words of Dostoyevsky, the degree of civilization in a society is revealed by entering its prisons.

I extend my sincere thanks to all the intervenors who have provided testimony and written briefs over the course of the last nine months and to the parliamentarians in both chambers who have examined this legislation and made thoughtful and constructive suggestions.

Since the Senate social affairs committee completed clause-by-clause consideration of this bill a couple of weeks ago, the government has been carefully studying the committee's recommendations, all of which seek to achieve laudable objectives. We are proposing to accept several of the Senate's amendments as is or with small technical modifications.

First off, with minor adjustments, we agree with amendments that would require a mental health assessment of all inmates within 30 days of admission into federal custody and within 24 hours of being transferred to an SIU. This fits with the focus on early diagnosis and treatment that would be facilitated by the major investments we are making in mental health care. We agree with the proposal to rearrange section 29 of the act, which deals with inmate transfers, to emphasize the possibility of transfers to external hospitals.

I thank the hon. senators for their efforts and contributions.

[Kanata—Carleton, June 13th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize the extraordinary people of my riding. We are blessed in so many ways.

Kanata—Carleton is the ideal place to start up a tech business, because it is home to Canada's largest technology park and business is booming. Despite some challenges from Mother Nature, the agricultural sector of my riding is also growing.

We have had our challenges: three natural disasters in three years. However, without any hesitation, people from one end of the riding to the other rushed in to help. The wonderful volunteer leaders at West Carleton Disaster Relief helped coordinate it all. They worked with the city, first responders, NGOs, the Canadian Armed Forces and thousands of volunteers who came out to help. They set an incredible example for our community, which is what leaders do.

I thank the people of Kanata—Carleton for being such an inspiring example of community. I am so proud to represent them.

[Parks Canada, June 12th, 2019]

Madam Speaker, there is a lot of work that needs to be done in terms of finding the replacement for the Phoenix pay system.

We rely on our public servants. They do the hard work. They are dedicated. They are the ones who deliver the programs and services that benefit all Canadians, and we recognize their contributions and their commitments. That is why we will continue to treat the mitigation of pay issues created by the implementation of the Phoenix pay system as a top priority.

The process to replace the system overall is also under way. The pilot projects are going to show us the way forward as to which of the systems we are looking at will best serve all of our public servants.

[Parks Canada, June 12th, 2019]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Kootenay—Columbia for his concern that our public servants have the kind of pay system they deserve.

I am pleased to be able to highlight some of the things that Parks Canada has tried to do to mitigate the pay issues created by the implementation of the Phoenix pay system. We cannot underestimate these challenges, which is why ensuring that employee files are handled properly and accurately is a high priority for Parks Canada. I can assure the member that this work is being done to identify and address pay issues as efficiently as possible.

Given the special nature of Parks Canada's operating model, the agency, in collaboration with Public Services and Procurement Canada, has been at the forefront of the search for solutions that work for Parks Canada employees, including seasonal employees, students and other types of employment.

Many actions are being initiated by Parks Canada to improve the Phoenix pay system issues. The agency has worked diligently to simplify its business processes, including establishing a special team dedicated to data management and integrity. This team now does all pay entries into the pay system, thus ensuring greater consistency and reliability of the data. This is only one example of initiatives under way.

The agency is also working with PSPC to resolve the issues. In early 2018, PSPC introduced pay pods, which are dedicated teams specific to departments and agencies, as a new approach to efficiently provide pay administration services. These pods are being rolled out to all departments and agencies served by PSPC. Parks Canada has been served by a full pay pod since February 21, 2019. Backlogged pay issues in February 2019 decreased by 30% from then to now.

Also the Minister of Environment remains actively involved in the working group of ministers on achieving steady state for the pay system, which is taking a whole-of-government approach to address these pay issues. By all working together, we can make the kind of progress that members of Parks Canada deserve.

[Public Safety, June 12th, 2019]

Madam Speaker, the Government of Canada is always going to stand with Canadians every step of the way as they deal with these kinds of disasters.

We agree that collaborative effort is absolutely essential. We work shoulder to shoulder with all levels of government in Canada, first responders, volunteers, other NGOs, government departments, provinces and territories, municipalities and industry to identify collaborative actions in support of disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.

Through Public Safety Canada's newly developed emergency management strategy, Canada will be in a better position to predict, prepare for, respond to and recover from weather-related emergencies and natural disasters.

[Public Safety, June 12th, 2019]

Madam Speaker, before I get to the answer for my hon. colleague for Saanich—Gulf Islands, I want to offer my heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and community of Kelsey Strang who had been evacuated from Pikangikum. The Minister of Indigenous Services has reached out to the community leadership at this difficult time. While no words are adequate to respond, my heart aches for those who knew and loved her.

We will always help Canadians affected by wildfires and other disasters. We know that climate change is making natural disasters more severe, more frequent, more damaging and more expensive. Our government always stands ready to help.

The government operations centre engages with federal, provincial and territorial partners concerning fires and flooding across the country in order to be ready to respond should federal assistance be required. Emergency response is handled first at the local level. If local first responders need assistance, they can request it from neighbouring municipalities or from their province or territory. However, if an emergency escalates beyond their response capabilities, provinces or territories can request assistance from the federal government.

There is a well-established process in place for managing requests for federal assistance, which is facilitated by the Public Safety Canada regional offices through the government operations centre, and it includes interdepartmental consultation as it pertains to resources. This process ensures that municipal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions are respected, that emergency response is well coordinated and that the provision of assets and resources can be expedited at the national level when needed.

Regarding the situation of the Pikangikum First Nation, I will share some information about the events that took place recently.

On May 29, Indigenous Services Canada informed the government operations centre through the Ontario provincial emergency operations centre, that a fire was affecting the community of Pikangikum. As members may be aware, Pikangikum First Nation is a fly-in community of about 4,000 residents located in Ontario, about 70 kilometres from the Manitoba border. That same day, on May 29, a state of local emergency was declared due to the impact of smoke and fire. A request for aircraft and evacuation assistance from the Canadian Rangers and the Canadian Armed Forces was issued by the Province of Ontario to the federal government.

On May 30, in concurrence with the acting minister of National Defence, we accepted the request for the affected communities. Evacuation of the community began on the same day, on May 30. Airspace around Pikangikum was restricted to ensure the safety of Canadian Armed Forces operations and fire suppression. Ontario was not able to accommodate all the evacuees on such short notice and requested assistance from the Province of Manitoba, and that was graciously provided.

The evacuation has been suspended. The evacuation order was cancelled by the Chief of Pikangikum on June 9 due to the improving conditions.

I want to reassure Canadians that we remain committed to community safety.