Marie-Claude Morin

[Fair Rail Freight Service Act, February 4th, 2013]

I am influential, as my colleague opposite stated. I will start again from the very beginning because I lost my concentration somewhat.

As I was saying, transportation is an issue I am interested in and something that is also important in my riding. I will talk about agriculture a little later. I talk about it often because it is important to me and it plays a large role in my riding.

First, it is important to state that my party and I support the bill at second reading. We know that 80% of railway users are dissatisfied with the service provided.

It is important to say that some amendments will have to be made in committee. The bill must be improved so that rail transportation really improves in Canada.

After years of discussions, the Conservatives finally introduced a bill in response to a number of complaints from rail customers that received inferior service from the major railway companies for a very long time.

I would like to go back to the speech by my colleague, the member for Chambly—Borduas. Earlier he referred to the railway as part of Canada's heritage and to the sense of belonging that people attach to the railway in Canada. In my opinion and that of the member for Chambly—Borduas, that makes it more important to invest properly in this mode of transport, a fundamentally important one in a country such as Canada, which is very large and sparsely populated.

It is also important to say that everyone must come out a winner: the railways but also rail transport service customers, such as farmers and mining companies, which are often victims of the railways' virtual monopolies. We are talking about service disruptions, delays and disturbances that hurt the agriculture, forest products, mining and manufacturing sectors, which are not compensated for the losses.

A large portion of those goods is intended for export, which is very important for Canada's economy. Those sectors must be able to rely on effective transport in order to export their goods, not to mention the fact that many goods, as in the agricultural sector, are perishable. Producers therefore cannot afford major delays or service disruptions. Their products must be exported immediately.

Shippers have difficulty obtaining fair, reliable rail transport services. Some are not even able to secure contracts with major railway companies, and those that have contracts often suffer long delays or simply do not have enough cars at their disposal.

This entire situation undermines the ability of Canadian exporters to remain competitive in international markets, particularly agricultural products markets, as I said earlier. Farmers already face numerous uncontrollable challenges. Consider weather issues, for example, such as early frosts, excessive rain or too much sun. Farmers already deal with situations that are not easy to handle. That is the case with all farmers in my riding: we never know what will happen with the harvests, whether we will manage to make it to the end or whether everything will go well. The government thus has some responsibility toward these people, who feed Canada's population, and it must assist them, in particular by guaranteeing that their goods are efficiently transported. That is already a first step.

Following years of discussion, expert panels, an attempt at mediation and consultations with stakeholders, the Conservatives ultimately had no choice but to introduce a bill in late 2012, not very long ago.

One reason this bill was introduced was pressure from the official opposition NDP transportation critic, the member for Trinity—Spadina, who does an excellent job on the transportation file. My colleague presented a private member's bill, the Rail Customer Protection Act. The government then finally moved forward with Bill C-52.

For too many years now, farmers and other business owners have been subjected to bad rail service, and Ottawa has not taken action. Bill C-52 is a step in the right direction, but it is far from being perfect, since it does not include some major demands from shippers. I think that its wording is a bit ambiguous, which could create some loopholes. That will have to be considered in committee.

The committee will also have to consider the stakeholders affected by the problems, so it will have to consult farmers, for example, as well as stakeholders from the forestry and mining industries. That would be worthwhile. As I said earlier, 80% of customers are not satisfied with the services. That is a big number. If I had a business and 80% of my customers were not satisfied, I would be on the brink of bankruptcy.

Canadian shippers deserve fair and reliable service. They also deserve to be protected.

Every year, this situation costs the Canadian economy millions of dollars. We are talking about jobs and about goods that are lost or do not make it to the right place. Every day, many industries have to deal with rotting crops, work interruptions in plants and mines, and missing cargo. This is a real problem. Clearly, it hurts shippers and, as I was saying earlier, it hurts our global competitiveness. It costs us jobs.

The current bill is a bit weak.

I have only one minute left. I always get carried away and I did not even get to half of what I wanted to say. That is okay. I will continue quickly.

I find that the bill is a bit weak. It does not necessarily cover existing contracts. That could be something to look at in committee.

I would like to close by saying that 70% of our goods are shipped by rail. That is a good reason to invest properly in this means of transportation and to protect the shippers who use this service so that they have a fair and reliable way of transporting their goods.

[Fair Rail Freight Service Act, February 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it is slowly happening.

[Fair Rail Freight Service Act, February 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would like my colleagues to take their conversations outside, as it is very distracting. That is all right, I will continue even though I have lost my concentration.

We know that—

[Fair Rail Freight Service Act, February 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to Bill C-52. I will be sharing my time with the member for New Westminster—Coquitlam.

Rail transportation is of particular interest in my riding. First of all, I would like to say that my party and I support this bill at second reading.

[Citizenship and Immigration, January 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, a family in my riding is currently awaiting extradition to Mexico, where they really fear for their safety.

These people left Mexico in 2009 to flee the armed assaults and blackmail they were being subjected to. They found refuge in my riding, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot.

Today the parents have good jobs at a Canadian company. Their two daughters are doing well at school. They all speak excellent French and are very active in their community. They are an example of an immigration success story.

Unfortunately, their refugee claim was denied and they are now living in fear. No one flees their homeland without good reason. This family had friends, a business and a whole life there. They fled Mexico because they had no other choice.

Last Saturday over 200 people came together to show their support. On behalf of all those people, I humbly ask the minister to intervene.

This family is a credit to our community. These parents must be allowed to raise their daughters here, in a safe place.

[PETITIONS, December 12th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, today I have the honour to present a petition signed by Canadians across the country who are asking the government to take action and adopt a national housing strategy.

[Strengthening Military Justice in the Defence of Canada Act, December 11th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for giving me the opportunity to elaborate on this issue.

As I pointed out in my speech, this committee is made up of members of the military, people who are sometimes the immediate superiors of the accused. This takes away some objectivity and creates a problem. Every citizen has the right to a fair and objective trial, and that includes our military.

As the hon. member mentioned, it is important to remember that most of these people risked their lives for our country, for us, for Canadians and for our freedom. Therefore, it is important to recognize that these military people are full-fledged citizens and have the same rights as we do.

[Strengthening Military Justice in the Defence of Canada Act, December 11th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his very relevant question.

In fact, since this government got a majority, it has been very difficult to work with it. This is unfortunate because that is what we would like to do in proposing amendments. We recognize that there are some positive things in the bill, but we also recognize that some changes are necessary. All we are really asking for is to be involved.

The Conservative government should also remember that while it may have a majority, not all Canadians voted for it.

[Strengthening Military Justice in the Defence of Canada Act, December 11th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I always find hon. members' questions somewhat funny.

We are not talking about the opinion of a judge or anyone else; we are talking about human rights. We are also talking about people who, because of a trial system, do not enjoy the same rights as ordinary citizens, even though they too are full-fledged citizens.

So, as I was saying, there is work to do. Experts should be consulted and, perhaps, the amendments that were proposed for Bill C-41, and that were very logical, should be accepted. The government actually supported them, and also the Minister of National Defence. Therefore, we should move forward on this issue and stop relying on an archaic system.

[Strengthening Military Justice in the Defence of Canada Act, December 11th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak today to Bill C-15, the Strengthening Military Justice in the Defence of Canada Act, which amends the National Defence Act and other Acts.

This bill responds to the 2003 report of the Honourable Antonio Lamer, former chief justice of the Supreme Court, and the May 2009 report of the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. It is important that we have a good look at our whole military justice structure because there are a number of problems that need to be resolved.

Military justice needs to fit into our overall justice system. We need to ensure that our military justice laws are consistent with other laws in our general justice system, particularly when it comes to the fundamental principles of law. It is important to understand that there are differences between military law and our general legal system, and for good reason. The military justice system recognizes the relationship between the justice system and discipline within the armed forces.

Michel Drapeau, a retired Canadian Forces colonel and military law expert, had the following to say before the Standing Committee on National Defence:

I strongly believe that the summary trial issue must be addressed by this committee. There is currently nothing more important for Parliament to focus on than fixing a system that affects the legal rights of a significant number of Canadian citizens every year. Why? Because unless and until you, the legislators, address this issue, it is almost impossible for the court to address any challenge, since no appeal of a summary trial verdict or sentence is permitted.

Mr. Drapeau is a lawyer in private practice and has considerable military experience. His advice is worth its weight in gold and must be followed, which does not appear to have been the case here.

The bill provides for greater flexibility in sentencing, establishes new sentencing options—such as absolute discharge, intermittent sentences and restitution—makes changes to the composition of a court martial panel according to the rank of the accused person, makes changes to the limitation period applicable to summary trials and allows an accused person to waive the limitation periods. The bill also clarifies the responsibilities of the Canadian Forces provost marshal and makes amendments to the delegation of the Chief of the Defence Staff’s powers as the final authority in the grievance process.

When Bill C-41 was before the House, we referred it to the Standing Committee on National Defence where our party tried to do two things. First, we tried to ensure that the procedures in the military justice system were effective and consistent with the need for the timely resolution of disciplinary matters in some cases. Second, we also tried to ensure, to the extent possible, respect for the protections under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In other words, we did not want an efficient military justice system to trump the fundamental principles of justice just because the people in question are in the military.

Although Bill C-15 is similar to Bill C-41, important amendments adopted at committee stage at the end of the last Parliament have not been included in Bill C-15.

To no one's great surprise, these rejected amendments include the NDP amendments concerning, first of all, the authority of the Chief of Defence Staff in the grievance process—clause 6 as amended in Bill C-41. By the way, this was a direct response to a recommendation in the Lamer Report. They also concern changes in the membership of the grievance board so that 60% of the members would be civilians—clause 11 as amended of Bill C-41—and of course the provision ensuring that a person convicted of an offence at a summary trial would not be unfairly given a criminal record—clause 75 as amended of Bill C-41. This is very important.

When Bill C-41 was debated in the spring of 2011, the long hours of debate between the parties appeared to be leading toward a positive breakthrough. It makes me wonder why the Conservatives did not keep the amendments the NDP proposed in Bill C-15.

By excluding these amendments from Bill C-15, the Conservatives are undermining the important work done by all the members of the Standing Committee on National Defence, including their own colleagues, as well as the recommendations made by the representatives of the Canadian Forces during the last Parliament.

Many significant reforms were proposed in this bill. The NDP has long supported a necessary update of the military justice system. Canadian Forces members are subject to extremely high standards of discipline and they deserve, of course, a justice system of equally high standards.

That is why the NDP and I will oppose Bill C-15 at second reading. There are a number of shortcomings in the bill and we hope they will be discussed in committee if Bill C-15 is passed at second reading. This is probably what will happen, given that the government has a majority.

In terms of changes to the summary trial process, we believe that the amendments to Bill C-15 do not adequately address the unfairness of summary trials. At present, a summary trial conviction at the Canadian Forces results in a criminal record. Summary trials are held without the accused being allowed to consult counsel. There is no appeal and no transcript of the trial. Furthermore, the judge is the accused person's commanding officer. This is too severe for certain members of the Canadian Forces who are convicted of minor offences.

These minor offences include insubordination, quarrels, misconduct, absence without leave, drunkenness and disobedience. I agree that this is probably very important for military discipline, but it does not warrant a criminal record. I think everybody is in agreement on this point.

However, Bill C-15 provides an exemption so that certain offences, if there is a minor sentence determined by the act or a fine of less than $500, will no longer lead to a criminal record. In our view, this is a positive element in the bill. However, we believe the bill does not go far enough, unfortunately.

At committee stage, last March, the NDP proposed amendments to Bill C-41. These amendments included extending the list of offences, from five to 27, that could be considered minor and that would not result in a criminal record if the offence in question received a minor sentence.

The amendment also extended the list of sentences that could be imposed by a tribunal without being included in a criminal record. Such sentences include a severe reprimand, a reprimand, a fine equivalent to one month's salary and other minor penalties. This was an important breakthrough in terms of summary trials. However, as this amendment was not retained in Bill C-15, we are not prepared to give our support to the bill. We want this amendment to be included again.

A criminal record is not a small thing, as they say. Having a criminal record can make life after a military career very difficult. It can make it very difficult to obtain a job, to rent an apartment or to travel. Many Canadians would be shocked to learn that the members of the military who so bravely served our country may have a criminal record because of flaws in the military justice system.

I would now like to talk about reforms to the grievance system. At present, the grievance board does not allow for any outside review. In theory, the Canadian Forces Grievance Board should be viewed as an external, independent civilian body. Right now, the board members are retired members of the Canadian Forces, some of whom are very recently retired members of the military. In terms of a guarantee of objectivity, to my mind, this is hardly ideal. In fact, the NDP amendment suggested that at least 60% of the members of the grievance board must not be former officers or former members of the Canadian Forces, in order to guarantee a little more objectivity in cases of this kind.

With regard to the authority of the Chief of Defence Staff in the grievance process, contrary to a recommendation in the Lamer Report, the NDP believes that the lack of authority of the Chief of Defence Staff to resolve financial issues arising from grievances is a major weakness in the military grievance system.

Since the Lamer Report came out, no concrete action has been taken to implement the recommendation, even though the recommendation was approved by the Minister of National Defence. In my view, we must all ask questions and we must study the bill in a little more detail, become aware of the opinions of those concerned and work with the official opposition.