Ralph Goodale

[Public Safety, June 2nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the short answer is yes.

We are launching a feasibility study on restoring prison farms in the Kingston area. This process will allow citizens, business leaders, and other stakeholders to share their visions for what the program could look like. It will allow the government to review the costs and efficacy of reinstatement.

An effective criminal justice system is built on evidence-based policies that promote public safety and the reintegration of offenders. I thank the member for Kingston and the Islands for contributing to that goal.

[Public Safety, May 18th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the plan with respect to Bill C-51 was laid out very clearly in our election platform.

Step one, in respect of that, will be taken, hopefully, before this Parliament rises for the summer. That is the presentation of legislation having to do with a new overview mechanism, involving a committee of parliamentarians. Step two was in the budget. That was the creation of a new office on counter-radicalization. We will be conducting major national consultations with Canadians to determine what further they want to see to happen.

[Public Safety, May 18th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, freedom of the press is a fundamental Canadian value that is enshrined in the charter.

The unauthorized surveillance was entirely unacceptable. It was contrary to a ministerial directive. It was contrary to RCMP policy. It was stopped when RCMP headquarters became aware of it, and the investigators have been reprimanded.

[Canada Border Services Agency, May 10th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, when individuals present themselves at the border to enter into Canada, they are examined by the Canada Border Services Agency. The professional officers of that agency take all relevant factors into account, including the existence of a criminal record.

[Disaster Assistance, May 10th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have rallied to this cause with enormous generosity. They have responded to the human needs that are so apparent in Fort McMurray, and they have done so with a great Canadian human spirit.

In addition to that, the Government of Canada is providing support through the Department of National Defence, the RCMP, Transport Canada, the innovation department, Health Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Public Services Canada, the interagency on firefighting, the CRA, employment insurance, and that does not even get to the important question of DFA.

[Ethics, May 10th, 2016]

What utter nonsense, Mr. Speaker.

Four hundred thousand people move back and forth across the Canada-U.S. border every day and $2.4 billion in trade move back and forth across that border every day. We have to make that border secure and we have to make it efficient for the movement of people and goods. We negotiated and concluded an agreement on pre-clearance, which that party worked on for five years and could not get it done. We finished it.

[Royal Canadian Mounted Police, May 9th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the previous government adopted an abusive approach toward organized labour. It introduced Bill C-377 and Bill C-525, designed to undermine collective bargaining rights in this country.

By contrast, we have undertaken to do what the previous government failed to do, and that is to give RCMP members, for the first time in history, the opportunity to collective bargain through an agent that they choose for themselves.

[Disaster Assistance, May 9th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, from the very beginning, the Government of Canada has been backing up the Government of Alberta every step of the way, together with all the first responders, all the private sector organizations, and the Red Cross, to make sure that every conceivable support was put at the disposal of Fort McMurray and the people of Alberta.

The government operation centre has been on the job from day one, and every agency and department of this government has been thoroughly engaged to make sure that all Canadians stand together, and surely it is a time for that, not this.

[Disaster Assistance, May 9th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Red Cross has proven to be an enormous and valuable partner in dealing with the immediate crisis of this situation. It has extraordinary depth and reach and capacity to provide the kind of immediate emergency assistance that was required in the very short term in dealing with those circumstances. It has done a magnificent job.

As we move now into future phases of how we will assist Alberta and Fort McMurray in the recovery, we will examine all possibilities for how everyone can help to the maximum extent possible.

[Disaster Assistance, May 4th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, in addition to the items I mentioned earlier, air force assets are obviously being positioned in the area to be helpful, as required. Satellite and geomatics intelligence is being provided on the progress of the fire. The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre is assembling assets and personnel to assist Alberta personnel in the actual fighting of the fire, with type 1 and type 2 professional firefighters. Health Canada is involved in stockpiling living supplies. The Red Cross is fully engaged in dealing with issues like clothing, food, and water. The innovation department is making sure that communications systems are working in northern Alberta.