House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2019, with 34% of the vote.
Justice October 1st, 2018
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, I have asked the commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada to examine all the details of this particular case, including the processes by which the decisions were taken and to ensure that those processes were followed, but more importantly to examine the policies themselves to determine if they are appropriate in order to keep Canadians safe and to ensure that justice is done. I will anxiously await her report.
Justice October 1st, 2018
Mr. Speaker, I will await very anxiously the report that I have requested from the commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada. It is very important to proceed in this manner, in an appropriate, strong way. I will do that. I am waiting for her report. As soon as I get that report, I will take the appropriate action.
Justice October 1st, 2018
Mr. Speaker, I look forward to reviewing in great detail the correspondence from the father of Tori Stafford. The hearts of all Canadians go out to him and other members of the family who have suffered such anguish. Obviously, the objective here is to ensure that justice is done, and to ensure that Canadians are always safe and secure. I have asked the commissioner of the correctional service to examine all of the facts of this case and all of the policies that were applied to ensure that the proper standards are adhered to.
Justice October 1st, 2018
Mr. Speaker, the issues involved in this case are being very carefully examined by the commissioner of the correctional service, subsequent to my request that she do so. I have asked her not only to look at the decision-making process to ensure that proper procedures and policies were followed, but also to look at the policies themselves and to report to me on whether those policies are in fact sufficient, proper and appropriate in the circumstances to protect public safety and to ensure that justice is done.
Justice October 1st, 2018
Mr. Speaker, as I said several times last week, Tori Stafford's brutal death in 2009 was a horrible gut-wrenching crime for the whole country. The killer, McClintic, was reclassified as medium security in 2014. The government of that day did not challenge that decision. In fact, McClintic remains in a medium-security correctional facility today. I have asked the commissioner of corrections to examine the decision-making process to make sure that all policies were properly followed, and more than that, to ensure that the policies themselves are correct, and to identify—
Justice September 27th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has referred to an atrocious, evil child killer. In fact, that description applied in 2014 when the decision was taken by the previous government to change her classification from maximum to medium. That is what happened in 2014.
Justice September 27th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, no member of the House has ever trivialized the circumstances that we are dealing with. In fact, it was a horrible crime, a horrible crime that all Canadians were repulsed by.
In light of that, I have made the request to the commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada to investigate the circumstances of this case to make sure that all policies were followed, and also to make sure that the policies are in fact right in this case and all cases to keep Canadians safe and to manage and handle inmates in the proper way.
Justice September 27th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, the very issues that have been referred to by this hon. member in her question are issues that will be very carefully examined by the commissioner of the Correctional Service, who has the legal authority and is responding to the request I made to her to make sure that all policies were properly followed and that those policies are in fact the best ones to keep Canadians safe.
Justice September 27th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, the legislation does not give the minister or the government the authority to intervene in the day-to-day operations of the Correctional Service. That power, under the law, is vested in the hands of the commissioner of the Correctional Service. I have asked her to review all of those policies to determine whether or not they are in fact the right policies to keep Canadians safe in this case and every other case.
Justice September 27th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, as I was saying in response to the previous question, not only is the commissioner of the Correctional Service examining every dimension of this case to ensure that all laws and all policies, as they existed at that time, were properly followed, she is also examining the question of whether those policies are in fact the right ones for the proper handling of inmates and for keeping Canadians safe. I will be very anxious to have her conclusions.