Peter Van Loan

[Justice, April 22nd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, when we assumed office, we reflected in our policies some of the things Canadians have been telling us. They were concerned about crime, they wanted to see more support for the police and they wanted to see laws toughened on criminals, all things that had been neglected for 13 years.

Among the things we did was institute a police officer recruitment fund. Over $400 million were delivered to the provinces to hire new police officers. We committed to 1,000 new RCMP and we have delivered over 1,500. We are doing the job that the Liberal Party never did because it was not really concerned about crime because, as he said, it did not think it was a problem.

[Canada-U.S. Relations, April 22nd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, those are comments from a party that was asleep at the switch when the Americans instituted the western hemisphere travel initiative, the toughest measure to thicken our border and make it difficult for Canadians to travel to the United States and difficult for trade. What did the Liberals do? They did absolutely nothing.

We, on the other hand, have been very active. We obtained a number of extensions. We are developing effective ways of ensuring that it can proceed in a fashion that facilitates trade while ensuring we have security.

We have been defending Canadian interests every step of the way. The Liberals were asleep at the switch all the time.

[Canada-U.S. Relations, April 22nd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we are standing up for Canada's interests every day on the border and around the world. We are advancing our interests on issues of trade and security all across the front.

On the issue of the 9/11 terrorists, it is quite clear that none of them came from Canada. None of them crossed the Canadian border into the United States. The 9/11 commission said exactly the same thing. I do note that the Secretary of Homeland Security has also acknowledged that and we accept her acknowledgement.

[Firearms Registry, April 21st, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, our police officers are among the bravest people in our country. They undertake their work every day in various situations that are very dangerous. The one thing they will not do is assume that what is on the gun registry tells them who is a criminal. Why? Because the people carrying the guns, the criminals on our streets, have not signed up with the gun registry.

Those are illegal handguns. That is why we have made it a mandatory prison sentence when a person is convicted of carrying an illegal handgun. That is our approach to getting tough on crime: focusing on the criminals.

[Firearms Registry, April 21st, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, our commitment is quite clear. We intend to eliminate the long gun registry. We do not believe it provides any particular benefits in terms of law enforcement.

In fact, we have chosen to approach these matters differently, with mandatory prison sentences for crimes committed with guns, provide more resources to our police and more police officers on the street, with over 1,500 new RCMP officers so far.

That is our approach to making our communities safer.

[Gun Registry, April 2nd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, as everyone knows, the long gun registry was enacted pursuant to the criminal law powers the federal government possesses under the Constitution. As a result, those could not be transferred. The province, of course, does have its own ability to act under its powers regarding property rights. If it wishes to do that, it can of course do that and we could have nothing to say about it.

[Gun Registry, April 2nd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, this government, of course, is very concerned with the battle against crime and against gun crime. That is why we have been carrying out a very ambitious legislative agenda on those matters, which included mandatory prison sentences for gun crimes, which we had some challenges getting adopted by the House, I might remind everyone. We also have been working on legislation that the justice minister has introduced to combat organized crime and drug crimes. Those are the kinds of things that are going to focus on criminals.

As for the long gun registry, that is a matter of targeting farmers, law-abiding hunters. That is not where the problem is. The problem is fighting crime.

[Canadian Security Intelligence Service, April 1st, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, this government does not condone the use of torture in any way. It certainly does not have a place in any kinds of inquisition techniques.

CSIS has made it quite clear that it does not practise the use of torture in information gathering and intelligence gathering. The head of CSIS, Jim Judd, has made it quite clear, as well, that he personally considers torture to be morally repugnant. That is the leadership that CSIS has provided and that is the practice of CSIS.

[Correctional Service Canada, March 31st, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Ottawa—Orléans for his ongoing interest in keeping the community safe from crime.

We are committed to the overall safety and security of Canadians. Correctional Service Canada is committed to ensuring that the new location for the Ottawa parole office is one that is appropriate in keeping the community safe. Part of that ensures consulting the community to understand its views and to understand the local issues. That has happened and the message has been loud and clear.

The 1010 site is not an appropriate site for a correctional facility of this type. As a result, I have asked Correctional Service Canada to reconsider it, which I understand it is doing.

[Public Safety, March 31st, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, our government is very pleased to be working co-operatively with the Obama administration and with the American government. In fact, in areas where we saw threats to Canada, such as the early implementation of the western hemisphere travel initiative, when that party was in government, it did not even know it was going through Congress. Nobody told the Liberals. They did not lobby.

After it was passed, we got involved when we became the government. We secured a number of extensions to that. We continue to work with them to ensure flexible implementation on June 1. We are working very hard and engaging co-operatively with the Americans.

I know the opposition wants to step up the rhetoric and attack the Obama administration. We prefer to work together co-operatively for solutions.