Roxanne James

[Drug-Free Prisons Act, November 22nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to speak to Bill C-12, the drug-free prisons act. I would like to seek unanimous consent to split my time with the member for Northumberland—Quinte West.

[Corrections and Conditional Release Act, November 21st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin my remarks by once again thanking the member for Oxford for bringing forward this common sense proposal.

His law enforcement background clearly provides a wealth of experience, which contributes to practical solutions to keep Canadians safe. His efforts with the bill would give a voice to victims and their families. Victims have long demanded that more be done to ensure that their rights come before the rights of criminals. Giving victims a stronger voice is a key priority for our government, something we clearly laid out in the Speech from the Throne.

Since we were first elected in 2006, our Conservative government has taken steps to end the imbalance created in our justice system by the previous Liberal governments, which replaced bars with a revolving door. Shockingly, Trudeau-era solicitor general, Jean-Pierre Goyer, said that they have decided from now on to stress the rights of criminals rather than the protection of society. That is shameful.

Is it any surprise that the victims of crimes and their families have felt that they are an afterthought in the current justice system? Unlike the Liberals, our Conservative government has listened to the concerns of victims and we have clearly acted. We have pushed ahead with common sense reforms to right these past wrongs. We have done so because we believe that victims have a role to play at the heart of the justice system. Strengthening the justice system to support victims of crime requires us to tackle the issue of crime from all angles, and this is exactly what we have done. We have made significant investments in crime prevention programs to keep at-risk youth out of gangs, and we are providing police with the tools and resources they need to do their jobs.

In many cases, helping our police means bringing in new laws that give them improved powers to investigate crimes, make arrests and keep criminals off the streets for appropriate amounts of time. We have passed laws to ensure that those who break the law are held accountable for their actions, where sentences match the severity of the crimes committed. We have also brought in a number of measures that emphasize offender accountability, from enshrining correctional plans into law to ensuring prisoners cannot withdraw their parole application at the last minute, and ensuring that prisoners are paying for their own room and board.

While I could speak for hours about all of our Conservative government's accomplishments, the bill we are here to talk about today relates to escorted temporary absences from prison. More specifically, it is about ensuring that only the Parole Board of Canada has the power to release prisoners except in very limited circumstances.

Currently, for prisoners serving indeterminate sentences, the authorization for ETAs, or escorted temporary absences, falls either to the Correctional Service of Canada, CSC, or the Parole Board of Canada, depending for the most part on how much of his or her sentence a prisoner has completed. Aside from some minor exceptions, the Parole Board is typically in charge of approving escorted temporary absences from the start of the sentence until the prisoner reaches day parole eligibility.

After that point, the Correctional Service of Canada takes over for all prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for the remainder of their sentence, in other words, until the day they are granted parole and conditionally released into the community. As the member for Oxford has said, we continue to hear calls from victims of crime who feel that decisions on these absences should remain with the Parole Board, rather than an unaccountable official. Victims want assurances that violent offenders who are serving time for murder are only granted escorted temporary absences after a rigorous process of checks and balances similar to that used to grant parole.

The legislation before us was born out of those concerns. It proposes changes to the current system that aim to alleviate this stress and help victims of crime feel greater confidence in the escorted temporary absence system. Under the proposed legislation, the Parole Board would be granted almost exclusive authority for making decisions on escorted temporary absences for first- or second-degree murders. Our Conservative government supports the intent of the proposed legislation. We will introduce amendments at committee to address some concerns regarding duplication and operational considerations.

We are ensuring that the concerns of victims are respected, and that the corrections system actually corrects criminal behaviour. I applaud the member for Oxford for bringing forward Bill C-483. I believe that the bill would continue to move us in the right direction. This is just one more example of how our government is working hard to support the victims of crime.

In the coming months, we will push forward with more initiatives and legislation, with the same determination we have shown in the past seven years. We will do everything in our power to ensure that public safety comes first. This is what Canadians have asked us to do, and this is what we will continue to do.

We will support this legislation, with amendments, and I hope that just for once, the NDP and Liberals will support this legislation that puts the rights of victims first.

[Corrections and Conditional Release Act, November 21st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Oxford for bringing this very important piece of legislation forward.

On this side of the House, as the member has mentioned, we want to put the rights of victims first. He is doing this with this particular bill with regard to escorted temporary absences.

In the member's opening remarks, he did mention Kim Hancox-Spencer. I am just wondering if he can comment on whether Miss Hancock-Spencer supports this legislation, and whether he has had an opportunity to speak to other victims of crime or the families of victims of crime. How are they feeling about this particular piece of legislation? Do they think this is actually going to address some of their concerns?

[Justice, November 19th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, once again the Liberal leader shows that he is out of touch with Canadians on crime.

Yesterday, he shockingly announced that he is opposed to mandatory minimum sentences for child molesters. Canadians are demanding that he explain his position to families of victims who must live every day with the consequences of these horrific crimes.

On the other hand, not only does our government continue to support mandatory prison sentences for child sex offenders, we announced in our Speech from the Throne that we will soon introduce legislation to ensure that multiple crimes bring multiple consecutive sentences.

This legislation will better protect children from a range of crimes, including child pornography, while ensuring that convicted criminals receive tougher sentences, as they should.

The real question is this: when will the Liberal leader start putting the rights of victims, including our children, ahead of the rights of sexual predators?

[Respect for Communities Act, November 8th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, before I was elected as a member of Parliament for Scarborough Centre, I was a real estate representative serving the GTA and one of the things that I am concerned about with respect to these sites is the value of people's real property.

As a real estate representative, I know too well that it is not just the current condition of a house or the property that it sits on, but it is also factors that are across the street, around the corner or down the road. For example, a gas station is always something to be concerned about. A big factory or even rental properties can decrease the value of real property. With respect that, when we talk about community safety and the concerns of the community, we are also taking into account the safety of investments.

I am wondering if the member would agree with me that an injection site across the street, down the road or around the corner from a family home would actually decrease the value of real property. Or does he actually believe that it would increase the value of that property?

[Citizenship Ceremony, November 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, this past Friday, I was honoured to join 99 new Canadians at a very special citizenship ceremony held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and the Rogers Centre. I was pleased to be accompanied by the Right Hon. Adrienne Clarkson, former Governor General of Canada; Chris Rudge, executive chairman and CEO of the Toronto Argonauts Football Club; and legendary CFL quarterback Russ Jackson, member of the Order of Canada and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.

One of the highlight moments of this evening was joining 99 new Canadians on the field to recite the oath of citizenship and open the game with the singing of O Canada. It was touching to see thousands of fans play witness to welcoming home these proud new Canadians as one of our own.

I would never have imagined that I would have been able to take part in such a notable event, including being able to stand at centre field and participate in the game's coin toss.

We all know that becoming Canadian citizens is a special occasion, and I know that each and every one of those 99 new Canadians will cherish that moment for the rest of their lives.

[Canada Border Services Agency, November 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, our Conservative government is committed to keeping our streets and communities safe.

Recently the Canada Border Services Agency apprehended the 48th individual on the “wanted by the CBSA” list and removed the 40th. Our government was proud to create this tool for ordinary Canadians to provide assistance to law enforcement. Canada will not be a safe haven for foreign criminals. Our government has zero tolerance for those who disregard Canadian law and abuse our generous immigration system. Under the leadership of our Conservative government, we have removed over 115,000 illegal immigrants since 2006.

I would like to congratulate the Canada Border Services Agency for the great work it does every day keeping Canadians safe.

[Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, October 25th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, we all know that the Liberal leader likes to travel across the country to talk about himself on the taxpayer's dime.

In February he told the Ottawa Citizen he had earned $277,000 in speaking fees since 2008 while earning an MP's salary. That is a lot of extra money.

MPs now have until the end of the month to submit a form to the House of Commons administrators listing all of their paid speaking engagements, which may eventually pose a challenge for the Liberal leader.

We have mentioned several times that the leader of the Liberal Party should not be taking money from schools and charities for speaking engagements while earning a salary as a member of Parliament. I would not want my child's school to pay for any politician to tout his or her accomplishments to students. It is sad that the leader of the Liberal Party happily accepts this money.

[Public Safety, October 24th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, a judge has ordered that this individual's application for a temporary resident permit be redetermined on a technicality, but let us be perfectly clear who we are talking about. He is a convicted cop-shooter and an alleged member of the extremist Blank Panther Party who hid in Canada illegally under a false name.

Rather than stand up for the real victims of crime, the NDP leader has instead supported this violent criminal, going so far as to visit him on a trip to the United States.

Canadians would like to know whose side the NDP leader is on.

[Justice, October 22nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, Omar Ahmed Khadr pleaded guilty to heinous crimes. He pled guilty to the murder of Sergeant First Class Christopher Speer, an American army medic. He also pleaded guilty to providing material support for terrorism, conspiracy and spying.

Last week the courts readily decided that he must continue to serve his sentence in a maximum security federal facility. Too often this serious criminal gets all the attention, especially from his soft-on-crime friends in the NDP and Liberal Party. In fact, the member for Gatineau referred to the “tragedy of Omar Khadr”.

The real tragedy is that on August 6, 2002, Tabitha Speer lost her husband and Taryn and Tanner Speer lost their father.

Rather than focusing on the rights of confessed terrorists like Mr. Khadr, the Liberals and the NDP should join our government in standing up for the rights of the real victims of crime.