Kanata—Carleton  Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize the extraordinary people of my riding. We are blessed in so many ways. Kanata—Carleton is the ideal place to start up a tech business, because it is home to Canada's largest technology park and business is booming. Despite some challenges from Mother Nature, the agricultural sector of my riding is also growing.

Parks Canada  Madam Speaker, there is a lot of work that needs to be done in terms of finding the replacement for the Phoenix pay system. We rely on our public servants. They do the hard work. They are dedicated. They are the ones who deliver the programs and services that benefit all Canadians, and we recognize their contributions and their commitments.

Public Safety  Madam Speaker, the Government of Canada is always going to stand with Canadians every step of the way as they deal with these kinds of disasters. We agree that collaborative effort is absolutely essential. We work shoulder to shoulder with all levels of government in Canada, first responders, volunteers, other NGOs, government departments, provinces and territories, municipalities and industry to identify collaborative actions in support of disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.

Parks Canada  Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Kootenay—Columbia for his concern that our public servants have the kind of pay system they deserve. I am pleased to be able to highlight some of the things that Parks Canada has tried to do to mitigate the pay issues created by the implementation of the Phoenix pay system.

Public Safety  Madam Speaker, before I get to the answer for my hon. colleague for Saanich—Gulf Islands, I want to offer my heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and community of Kelsey Strang who had been evacuated from Pikangikum. The Minister of Indigenous Services has reached out to the community leadership at this difficult time.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, all allegations of this nature are taken very, very seriously. The minister is aware of this file. We are committed to ensuring that border services earn and deserve the trust of Canadians. We have put $24 million into a civilian review and complaints commission to handle these kinds of specific complaints and there is legislation.

Criminal Records Act  Madam Speaker, I appreciate the very balanced perspective that the hon. member for Elgin—Middlesex—London put forward, showing what some of the advantages are and what some of the disadvantages are. That is the kind of conversation we should be having, and I appreciate that. However, this is not finished.

Criminal Records Act  Mr. Speaker, I believe how it would work, at a provincial or municipal level, is that payment of those fines, if they are not granted amnesty on those fines, would be through civil recourse. I know that the federal government wants to help the provinces and the municipalities succeed in this, because we do want this pardon process to be a success.

Criminal Records Act  Mr. Speaker, I would have to agree with my hon. colleague. When people are entering another country, they might not be asked if they have a criminal conviction. They could be asked if they had ever been in possession of cannabis. That would actually make that difficult as well.

Criminal Records Act  Mr. Speaker, this really was a very key part of the debate. We came up against a couple of challenges that would make that avenue particularly difficult, one of them being the technological challenges, in that all of our records are not held at the federal level in a federal database.

Criminal Records Act  Mr. Speaker, again the challenge comes down to whether those fines are owed to the federal government or not. If they are owed to the federal government, then it is easy for us to say those fines do not need to be paid. If they are fines owed to another level of government or another jurisdiction, then it is not as easy for us to forgive those fines.

Criminal Records Act  Mr. Speaker, that is indeed one of the challenges, because we wanted to eliminate administrative fines related to these same convictions. However, not all of the fines are owed to the federal government. All the federal government can do is wipe its fines, but it has to discuss this with provinces and municipalities and encourage them to do the same.

Criminal Records Act  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to start off the debate at third reading of Bill C-93. This measure will make the pardon process simpler and quicker for Canadians convicted only of simple possession of cannabis. This is the next logical step in our efforts to establish a safer and more efficient system for cannabis.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, we are deeply concerned any time part of the Canadian public feels unsafe. We have committed to ensuring that the RCMP members have the resources and support they need. There is a new RCMP crime reduction strategy in Alberta that has led to a 25% reduction in reported property crimes between July 2017 and July 2018.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for his concern and his hard work at committee. Ashley Smith's death was a tragedy and we continue to extend our condolences to her family. We are working hard to prevent what happened to Ashley Smith from happening to anyone else.