44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 15, 2021 02:00PM
- Dec/15/21 4:40:48 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-5
Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her speech.
Earlier this week, I too had the opportunity to give a speech on Bill C-5. As I studied the bill, several things came to mind and jumped out at me.
Unfortunately, this feels a bit like a kitchen sink bill. The government is combining two very different subjects, when diversion and decriminalization are two very sensitive issues. It is also combining crimes involving the possession of firearms with simple drug possession offences. Having worked for an organization that tries to help people turn their lives around, I am very familiar with that subject.
My colleague even touched on the issue of mandatory minimum sentences for sexual assault in the context of the rising rates of femicide.
Is the member aware that Quebec is also in the midst of a crisis involving gun crime, that the mayor of Montreal and the Premier of Quebec are asking—
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- Dec/15/21 4:43:48 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the interpreter cannot hear the member properly.
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- Dec/15/21 5:12:10 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-5
Madam Speaker, we could talk and we are talking about minimum sentences. We are talking about firearms, but we cannot—
An hon. member: Oh, oh!
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- Dec/15/21 5:12:34 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-5
Madam Speaker, thank you for reiterating the importance of showing respect in the House.
I would like my colleague to quickly say a few words about two things.
The message this bill is sending by eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for gun-related crimes is that the government will not intervene and form a joint task force to better control firearms at the borders, as per the key request of the mayor of Montreal and the Premier of Quebec and the suggestion of the Bloc Québécois.
My colleague also addressed the issue of public health. How can she hope to help the organizations when her government is refusing to increase health transfers to 35% of total costs, as requested?
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- Dec/15/21 5:26:39 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-5
Madam Speaker, I would like to hear from my Conservative colleague on something he did not touch on in his speech. The Conservatives love to keep public spending under control.
Of course, the more mandatory minimum sentences there are, the more people there will be in prison; the more people we keep in prison, the more it will cost the government. I would like to hear what he has to say about the fact that there is a cost to putting more people in prison.
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- Dec/15/21 6:11:10 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-5
Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech. I would like to take the discussion in a different direction.
Despite the rhetoric from the Conservatives, there are examples of what works elsewhere in the world. Portugal, for example, has chosen the path of decriminalization, and it works. Another country that comes to mind is Switzerland, which has now gone the diversion route, and it works.
The Conservatives are always pushing the “tough on drugs” approach that they took in the 1990s, which did not work. It is interesting that examples of what is being done elsewhere, including Quebec, only make us more inclined to believe in the importance of diversion.
My colleague from Montarville also talked about this. The tough on drugs approach is all well and good, but who pays in the end? Quebec and the provinces end up paying. There is a cost to all of this, as my colleague said, but I would like to hear the member's opinion on the examples that exist elsewhere and that prove that these programs work.
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