House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 57% of the vote.
Public Safety February 5th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, government agencies have many opportunities to co-operate and work with all communities in Canada.
There is no question that there are ongoing efforts both by security agencies themselves and by other branches and departments of government to reach out, to have round tables, to be inclusive, and to consult regularly with all the diversity of Canada. That is not only a security issue; it is an ongoing effort on the part of government.
Public Safety February 5th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, this is a very comprehensive bill. However, with respect to CSIS, it would not only allow CSIS to share more information and work closely with Canadian security forces but also allow us to engage more with our Five Eyes community and to track terrorists that pose a threat to Canadians. It would allow our CSIS officers to operate as other security agencies do in protecting Canadians, both at home and abroad.
Victims Bill of Rights Act February 4th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, once again, that is why we have a process to examine new bills. For parliamentarians, it is an opportunity to study and comment on them.
We are talking about a bill, as we know, that has a history. It has already seen tremendous input and has had many eyes on it.
As far as provincial and territorial input, I am sure the member for Gatineau is aware that this particular legislation has been called for by provincial attorneys general and justice ministers for some time now. We have had numerous occasions to meet face to face with our provincial and territorial counterparts, and they are excited about this bill.
Yes, of course provincial and territorial administrations of justice will have a great deal to do with the implementation of these provisions, and that is why we have been in constant contact and consultation with them throughout. We have already put in place budgetary allocations of $120 million to support victims and the victims ombudsman. We will work more closely with the provinces that already have victims ombudsmen as well, which is the case for the majority of the provinces and territories.
This bill will be a cornerstone, and I suggest that it will be transformative in the way victims are treated by our justice system, from start to finish in the process. That is why there is urgency. That is why we want this bill to now move forward and form part of Canadian law.
Victims Bill of Rights Act February 4th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is no stranger to hyperbole. The fact is that there have been 18 speakers. Almost one-quarter of the members of the NDP caucus have spoken to this bill. This is in addition to the time at committee.
As the member will know, and as the Speaker is certainly aware, the Minister of Justice does not direct how the business of committee is done in terms of amendments. We know that this legislation received unprecedented input from front-line participants in our justice system, and most importantly, from some of the biggest and best experts we have in the field; that is, victims themselves and some of their advocates, including people like Priscilla de Villiers, Sharon Rosenfeldt , Scott Newark, and others who have been working with victims almost their entire working careers.
Again, this is a piece of legislation that has had tremendous scrutiny already at this point, not to mention the fact that Department of Justice lawyers, as they do in every case, with every amendment and with every piece of legislation that comes forward, examined it for constitutionality and charter compliance. We are confident in the bill. We have had tremendous input from across the country, from every province and territory. Many experts, including parliamentarians now, have had the opportunity to look at this bill. It is time to move it forward.
Victims Bill of Rights Act February 4th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if the hon. member was here when the House leader rose and suggested that there would be two more days of debate. There will be an opportunity to call witnesses in the Senate, including the current victims ombudsman, Sue O'Sullivan, if she chooses.
This effort to now move the bill forward was brought about because of clear indications from members on the opposite side that they were going to continue to drag out the debate, to put up speakers and bring out further speakers and simply go over the same debate over and over. We have seen time and again when members have come in and in some cases have read the same speeches verbatim that other members of their party have already put on the record. We have seen that happen on a number of occasions with other legislation.
This particular bill, I would suggest again, for emphasis, is of such importance and of such a pressing nature that we need to have this legislation move forward, and most importantly, become law, to protect Canadian victims and enhance their rights and entrench those rights in law once and for all.
Victims Bill of Rights Act February 4th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, my friend from Edmonton is no stranger to the importance of having legislation that protects our citizens, that does more and goes further for victims, and that is, in fact, the short answer.
This legislation will incorporate into one federal statute real, entrenched protections for victims. For the first time, there will be a place where victims can go to seek direction, advice, and support for their rights, not the rights of the criminal but the rights of the individual who has been harmed. They can go to seek support, to seek, in some cases, enforcement of restitution orders, and to seek the ability to seek information, something that should be basic.
Make no mistake about it. This does not aim to criticize or highlight shortcomings of the individuals working hard every day to support our victims, to support those who have suffered at the hands of criminals. This is simply to bring about a standardized approach across the country. There is the old saying about a higher tide elevating all boats. That is what we are attempting to do here. We are trying to bring about a greater experience for those who, sadly, find themselves drawn into the criminal justice system because they have been victims.
Victims Bill of Rights Act February 4th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, if a future government uses the procedures and processes needed to move bills forward, I will say that sometimes that is unfortunately necessary.
I am not sure I fully understood the member's question. These are quasi-constitutional powers that would be found within the bill. If the member is suggesting that some future government may in fact try to change, alter, or revoke some of this legislation, I frankly would be surprised if that would be the case, but nothing is beyond the realm of possibility, I suppose.
I want to take a moment to come back to the issue of restitution. So far as restitution goes, there will be new enforceability mechanisms. There will be a new ability for the victims, through the offices, in some cases, of either provincial or federal ombudsmen to seek out civil remedies. That is, they could have judgments placed against the perpetrators, the people responsible for the injury or the loss. It is also incorporated in the bill to bring about greater restitution and greater enforcement in terms of recovery of loss.
Victims Bill of Rights Act February 4th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, this is a shared responsibility. Surely the member, who herself was on the government benches for many years, is not going to suggest that somehow one government or one government agency is going to take full responsibility for this. It is really a tragic situation that she has described.
Within this particular legislation, there are very serious efforts now to bring about greater accountability at the provincial level, to have compensation for victims of crime, to have funds that are aimed at helping with counselling in some cases because the type of traumatic injury she is describing goes beyond just the physical injury.
The efforts here to bring about the type of restitution that would ever fully compensate somebody who has lost ambulatory skills or the ability to restore them to full health, there is no amount of money in the world that can do that.
This bill is not aimed at just one element of victims restitution, but also their inclusion, their right to information, their right to consultation with prosecutors, police and participants in the justice system, throughout the entire experience, from the time that the crime occurs until the final resolution or meting out of a sentence and then even through the parole process.
This bill would go a long way to help assist and offset costs of crime but also to support victims throughout their entire and, most often, unfortunate experiences in the justice system.
Victims Bill of Rights Act February 4th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, I had the good fortune to travel to the member's province on several occasions, including as recently as this past summer. In every province and territory, I heard from victims, from front line workers, victims services, child advocacy centres, police, essentially everyone, that important adjustments had to be made.
The member references restitution. Sadly, and this is an alarming statistic that I want to have on the record, the cost of criminality in Canada today is over $100 billion. That is a staggering figure, of which over 80% of those costs are borne by victims. That includes missed time and productivity, counselling and, of course, the costs incurred by victims themselves for damages and harm done to them as a result of criminality.
This bill, among other things, would allow victims greater access to restitution, to share the burden that they are forced to share through no fault of their own. One of the important parts of this bill is to buttress our current system of restitution. We are doing so in large consultation with provinces and territories, so that this will happen. We now have in place a victims ombudsman, another innovative part of the package of the solution coming from this government.
We intend to see this bill and other legislation that we are working on currently, some of which is still before the House, that is designed specifically to help victims and their feeling of respect and inclusion in our justice system.
Victims Bill of Rights Act February 4th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, while I appreciate and respect the opinion of the member opposite, I also hear from victims regularly, front line participants in the justice system, who are anxiously awaiting this legislation to come forward. The member was saying eight years and eight days in the House. There was also committee time, significant opportunity at committee, to hear from witnesses, from members of his party and others, to get their concerns on the record, and to put forward certain propositions and amendments. The time for talk has passed.
Eight years, he says. Yes, this bill has been a long time in the making. There were 500 participants or more who took part in the formulation of this important legislation. This is a bill that would bring about real improvements in the way our criminal justice operates, particularly vis-à-vis victims and their participation, their inclusion, their sense of respect, their right to information and their right to restitution at times. These are the types of proactive changes that many have been working for, not just for eight years but for their entire lives.