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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 85

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 9, 2022 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 85 - Jun/9/22
Mr. Don Davies
  • Jun/9/22 5:00:14 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-5 
Madam Speaker, absolutely, we need to start addressing in a more meaningful way the social determinants of crime. That is part of it. Also, I think the bottom line is that we need to give our courts and judges the tools they need to make proper individualized assessments to find out what the root causes of the person and the circumstances are before them. Punishment is an aspect of our penal system, so that is part of it, but it has to have its proper perspective. We have to understand what the real cause of the crime before them is, and we have to address that. That is the only way we can keep Canadians safe.
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Context: House Hansard - 85 - Jun/9/22
Ms. Elizabeth May
  • Jun/9/22 6:41:02 p.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-5 
Mr. Speaker, I absolutely will not apologize. This is based on evidence. In fact, the Canadian Criminal Justice Association, the Canadian Bar Association and the Canadian Sentencing Commission, which met in 1987, have recommended getting rid of all mandatory minimum sentences other than the one for murder. That is because they do not work. They do not deter crime. We want to ensure this absolutely. I am not only a mother. I am also a grandmother, and I completely understand where the hon. member is coming from, but when we dig into the evidence and ask if these mandatory minimums keep our children safe or have any impact whatsoever on someone who is twisted and horrific with an impulse to hurt a child? No, they do not. What we need to do is make sure those people get the punishment that fits the crime. Judges in this country will not let people who abuse children, and who were brought through the criminal justice system and found guilty, walk out of jail.
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Context: House Hansard - 85 - Jun/9/22
Ms. Elizabeth May
  • Jun/9/22 6:45:24 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-5 
Mr. Speaker, all of us in this place do not want horrific criminals to walk the streets. It is clear that we want the punishment to fit the crime, and that is the issue here. It breaks my heart when I think about what happened in this place in 2014, when Nathan Cirillo was killed at the War Memorial. I was one of the members of Parliament here. It was horrific to have gunfire in this place. That could have all been prevented. The individual who committed those crimes actually went before a judge and said he needed help and asked to be sent to jail, but he did not get that help. If we take care of people better, we can avoid crimes.
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Context: House Hansard - 85 - Jun/9/22
Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)
  • Jun/9/22 7:02:10 p.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-5 
Mr. Speaker, I am sure the member is aware that a number of years ago the Supreme Court struck down a number of mandatory minimum penalties because they were unconstitutional, specifically with respect to section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees against cruel and unusual punishment. In the Nur decision, a quote from the Supreme Court was that, “Empirical evidence suggests that mandatory minimum sentences do not, in fact, deter crimes”. To understand better, I am curious how he sees the opposite here.
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