SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 120 - Oct/28/22

Oct/28/22 10:40:38 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-9

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his service. Unfortunately, if we look back, in my community alone, it is very often a headline. We have some online news publications. Every day, I open up the website and there it is. There is another story. This revolving door is occurring in all of our communities, including mine. I know that, speaking to a number of first responders, whether we are talking about law enforcement or firefighters, because they are often the first ones attending, they are attending issues that are often not even within their normal roles because of addiction and mental health issues which can, ultimately, lead into crime. They are overburdened. They are overworked, and it is really frustrating when we hear headlines that someone has been picked up 50, 60, 70 or 100 times, and they are still circulating through the system. We have to address this.

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Mr. Jamie Schmale (Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, CPC)

Oct/28/22 10:42:11 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-9

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member mentioned victims in her speech. I think that is something often overlooked, especially by the Liberal government. The victims are the ones dealing with what has happened to them, the trauma and the feeling of being unsafe in their community and their home, etc. That is something that comes through loud and clear. Maybe my colleague can expand on that and the role the government should be playing to help the victims of crime.

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Mrs. Tracy Gray

Oct/28/22 10:42:39 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-9

Mr. Speaker, absolutely, victims have to be at the core of what we consider when we are looking at legislation. A good example of that is Bill C-5 and how the government is removing minimum sentences from very serious crimes. That puts these individuals who have committed these crimes right back into their communities and right back into where the victims are. That was one of the main reasons why we did not support that piece of legislation. We were looking out for the victims and caring for the victims.

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Mr. Brad Redekopp (Saskatoon West, CPC)

Oct/28/22 10:43:30 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-9

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour and pleasure to speak in this House on behalf of the citizens of Saskatoon West. Of course, I am rising today to speak to the bill before us, Bill C-9, which makes changes to the way federally appointed judges can be removed for misconduct. My approach today will be a bit different. I am not a lawyer, so I am not well versed in how law works and all the details and technicalities of it. The best example of that was from yesterday when I was privileged to attend the justice committee. I was listening to witnesses on the subject of Bill C-28, the extreme intoxication law. It is unbelievable that in this country, a person who gets so drunk that they commit a crime that results in great harm to a person can get off for it and there are no consequences. That is exactly what happened. That is why the government brought in Bill C-28 earlier. It was supposedly to fix this. As a layperson at the committee yesterday, I was listening to all my learned colleagues ask very intelligent questions that were going over my head. I was listening to professors explain the legal technicalities of everything. However, one thing that did come out clear was that it is absolutely wrong that if a person commits a crime, they do not face consequences simply because they were too drunk. Clearly, that needs to be fixed. The more troubling thing that came across to me was that the government attempted to fix this law in a very hurried way earlier this year. Essentially, it rammed through legislation to supposedly close a loophole. What I heard yesterday was that what the Liberals rammed through in a hurry, without proper consultation and without actually talking to people, has not solved the problem. In fact, it may have made it worse. We need to be very careful in the House when we propose solutions and ram them through the House without proper due diligence, because we can actually make things worse. That was the main thing I took away from yesterday. I also want to note another piece of legislation going through the House right now. It is Bill S-4. It amends the process for peace officers to apply for and obtain a warrant using telecommunications rather than appearing in person. It expands the abilities for accused and offenders to appear remotely by audio conference and video conference. It also allows prospective jurors in a jury selection process to appear by video conference. This is a bill that came about because of COVID. There were some changes needed in our system to accommodate more remote appearances, as members can see. What I find interesting is that these changes were due to the COVID epidemic we have, which started two years ago. It has taken two years for the Liberal government to get this to second reading in this House. I find it odd that on one hand, some legislation gets rammed through almost instantaneously, like Bill C-28, while in the case of Bill S-4, it lollygags along for a while. Maybe COVID will be in the rear-view mirror when it finally gets passed. I find it quite rich when the government talks about those on the Conservative side obstructing things, when we are trying to do the proper due diligence and trying to make sure that we do not get bad laws. This brings me to Bill C-9. This bill was originally introduced as a Senate bill, Bill S-5, in 2021. The bill modifies the existing judicial review process by establishing a process for complaints serious enough to warrant removal from office and another for offences that would warrant other sanctions, such as counselling, continuing education and reprimands. Currently, if the misconduct is less serious, one Canadian Judicial Council member who conducts the initial review may negotiate with the judge for an appropriate remedy. The bill states that the reasons a judge could be removed from office include: (a) infirmity; (b) misconduct; (c) failure in the due execution of judicial office; (d) the judge is in a position that a reasonable, fair-minded and informed observer would consider to be incompatible with the due execution of judicial office. Also, a screening officer can dismiss complaints rather than referring them to the review panel should they seem frivolous or improper. Federal judges are appointed for life, and it is absolutely critical that they are free of political inference. It is important that we have mechanisms in place to deal with them and remove them from office if that extreme point is necessary. Parliament sets laws, though, and judges need to respect the will of Parliament. A good example is the mandatory minimum sentences that the previous Conservative government brought in. Any violent criminal, regardless of race, gender and sexual orientation, should be treated as equal. The offender should face a jury of their peers and if convicted should get the appropriate punishment. Prison time will keep that person off the streets so they cannot engage in further criminal activity. Mental health issues, as well as drug and alcohol abuse, need to be addressed and monitored by trained personnel. Therapy and 12-step programs that are offered in prisons must be made mandatory for prisoners. Under house arrest, there is no way to ensure that these offenders get the help they need. We also need to consider victim safety when we are sentencing offenders. A sad but real truth is that violent crime is often committed within a family. It can be spousal abuse, sexual exploitation of a child, custodial kidnapping or robbery for the purposes of illicit substances. The people in closest proximity are always the most accessible victims. If a judge is required to sentence a spousal abuser to live at home rather than go to prison, what happens to the abused spouse and children? Do they flee to a crisis centre, or will they will get revictimized? I want to talk a bit about Saskatoon and my riding of Saskatoon West. It is an awesome and beautiful place to live and work. My wife and I call it home. For years before I became a member of Parliament, I was a home builder. I built new homes for families moving into the riding. First as a candidate and now as an MP, I can say that I have knocked on almost every door in Saskatoon West. As I have walked through those neighbourhoods, I have seen some of the areas of highest crime. In the past year, there have been 389 cases of reported sexual violations in Saskatoon, 2,303 reported cases of assault, 65 reported cases of kidnapping and abduction and 759 cases of violation under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Saskatoon is well above the national crime severity index of 73.4 in Canada's largest cities and has a crime severity index of 118, and it was ranked fourth behind Lethbridge, Winnipeg and Kelowna in 2020. Much of this crime is in the areas right around my constituency office. My constituency office is on the convergence of these neighbourhoods, and according to the Saskatoon Police Service, it is in the highest crime area of Saskatoon. As a result, we have to be very diligent in our office. We have gotten to know many of the people who live in the neighbourhood. They frequent our office and frequent the area by our office, and we have developed relationships with them. My staff have a security door and a buzzer system in place to screen people before they come into the office. Still, my office has been broken into and I have had my House of Commons computer stolen. An employee of mine had the window on his car broken just because somebody wanted a few quarters that were sitting in there. A lot of this is because of addicts. We have a lot of addiction issues that drive many of the crime problems we have. This is something that I agree with the government on. The approach on how to fix it, though, is where we differ. I believe in the miracles of alcohol and drug treatment through 12-step programs and abstention. The NDP-Liberals believe in what is called harm reduction. What I think needs to happen is that addicts need to be treated with love and compassion, which is offered through 12-step programs. These programs offer alcoholics and addicts a way to get clean and help others get clean at no cost to the individual or taxpayer. Unfortunately, there are two things that the government does not like. First, these are programs of spirituality. They require the addict to “turn their will and lives over to the care of God”. Second, as I explained, this does not require big government intervention. These programs deliver miracles; I know that for a fact. I know people who have been through them and care about them. As I wrap up, I just want to say that there are so many areas that we need to be working on in this House to improve our criminal justice system. Bill C-9 is a good step forward. We need to make sure that our judges are independent and that they are worthy of the positions they hold.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Oct/28/22 10:53:03 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-9

Mr. Speaker, I find it interesting when the Conservatives talk about the whole issue of crime and how tough they want to be on crime. I was an MLA, and back in, let us say, 2005 or 2006, Manitoba had the highest number of car thefts per capita. It was about the same 300 youth stealing literally thousands of cars. I think 15,000 cars was our peak. That was when we had Stephen Harper as prime minister. I am wondering if the Conservatives can provide comment on this, as they like to say that we have developed a revolving door. How would they respond to the fact that there were so many cars being stolen in the province of Manitoba? Would they take responsibility for that?

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Mr. Brad Redekopp

Oct/28/22 10:53:57 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-9

Mr. Speaker, I am a little disappointed that the parliamentary secretary did not ask me the standard question he has asked all the other people who have talked. I spoke to that a little in my speech, but I want to reiterate it because I want to answer the question that he really wanted to ask me but could not. It is so important in this House, when it comes to legislation, that we do not ram legislation through but give it proper due diligence, and that when hon. colleagues have things to say, they are respected and have their chance to say them. More importantly, it is interesting how the government complains at this point that it had to invoke time allocation, when in fact it called an election to stop this legislation before. We could have had this legislation passed had we not had the needless election a year ago that the Prime Minister called. That was what I wanted to say in response to the question that I know the parliamentary secretary wanted to ask.

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Mr. Denis Trudel (Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, BQ)

Oct/28/22 10:55:04 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-9

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech. I would like to address a somewhat related issue. There is a problem in this country with the way sexual assault cases are handled. Women are still afraid of the legal system. Women in Quebec who are victims of sexual assault can turn to centres known as CALACS, or Centres d'aide et de lutte contre les agressions à caractère sexuel. These centres play a very important role. According to statistics kept by CALACS, 5% of sex crimes are reported to the police. Just 5% of all sex crimes are reported. Clearly, women are afraid of the legal system. Based on the same statistics, three out of every 1,000 sexual assault cases that end up in the justice system result in a conviction. That is outrageous. How does my colleague see this problem being addressed?

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Mr. Brad Redekopp

Oct/28/22 10:55:59 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-9

Mr. Speaker, what the whole situation boils down to is a lack of confidence in the justice system. When a victim is unsure if a perpetrator will be held to account, and particularly unsure if a perpetrator will ever be incarcerated or see any consequences for their actions, it is very difficult for a victim to go through the mental anguish and pain of a court process. That is exactly why we need to do everything we can in this House to solidify and improve our system. The current Liberal government has done the exact opposite. It has made it weaker and less responsible, and we are going to see more victims not wanting to come forward. That is why we need a strong Conservative government to fix the mess that has been created in the judicial system by the Liberals.

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Ms. Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, NDP)

Oct/28/22 10:57:03 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-9

Mr. Speaker, I was really shocked to hear my colleague criticize harm reduction approaches for people who are struggling with addictions or who use drugs recreationally. I had five people in my riding die from the toxic drug supply last weekend. It goes against what public health experts are saying about the importance of putting in harm reduction to tackle addictions or to ensure people do not overdose. My colleague mentioned the AA program. Certainly that works for many, but suggesting that is the way forward goes against science. I know his party has difficulty following science. I am hoping my colleague can respond to me and perhaps evolve in his understanding of harm reduction.

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Mr. Brad Redekopp

Oct/28/22 10:58:10 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-9

Mr. Speaker, I am just happy that today I was able to shock the member for Winnipeg Centre.

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Mr. Scott Reid (Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, CPC)

Oct/28/22 10:58:21 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-9

Mr. Speaker, I have two minutes. I will be continuing after question period, after a delay of about an hour, which is better than a situation I once had where I started a speech and then was delayed by a two-week break. There is nothing like having two weeks between the first two minutes and the remaining eight minutes of a speech to allow one to refine those remarks. The second half of the speech was considerably better than the first. This time I am going to turn it around, and I am going to put all the exciting stuff at the front end. I am going to talk about the legislative history of this bill, a bill that is so urgently important that the government is applying time allocation and limiting debate. It is a matter that is absolutely critical to get dealt with, which is presumably why the government has delayed debate from when it introduced the bill in December 2021. It did not start debate for a further six months, until June 16 of this year, just shy of six months after it was introduced. No, in fact it is exactly six months. Maybe the government is seeking symmetry here, but that is when debate at second reading started. Of course we cannot complete anything that fast. It then disappeared. It is now back in October, and the government is announcing that it is a crisis and we must deal with this immediately, after having delayed it. However, the story is actually worse than that because the original bill was introduced in the Senate as Bill S-3, and the government then put its own bill in. Even that misses the point that there was a previous bill, which was essentially identical, introduced before the last election, the mid-COVID pandemic election, which caused everything on the Order Paper to be set aside. It was an election which served, as far as I can tell, literally no purpose. It was the least important election in Canadian history, and simply replicated the previous mandate down almost to the exact seat. Now it is a panic. Before we had literally years to deal with it, and I should point out that this is dealing with an issue that is essentially 50 years old. However, I will stop now and I look forward to continuing after question period.

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The Deputy Speaker

Oct/28/22 11:00:34 a.m.
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I thank the member for his intervention. He will have eight minutes when we return.

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Mr. Churence Rogers (Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, Lib.)

Oct/28/22 11:00:45 a.m.
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Mister Speaker, I rise today to speak of the reality most Canadians are currently facing with the increased costs of groceries and other basic necessities. Our government understands these concerns and has done a lot to provide critical relief to those most affected by global inflation. Last night, Bill C-31 was passed through the House, an act respecting the cost of living relief measures related to dental care and rental housing. This bill would provide up to $1,300 a year for eligible families to access dental services so that children 12 and under can receive regular cleaning and preventative services. As well, those who rent their homes would also get relief with a Canada housing benefit top-up payment of $500, which would see 1.8 million renters get help with the cost of housing. I am very proud of the work our government has done to help Canadians, such as the affordable child care benefit and the recent GST top-up. The passing of this bill would continue to help those most in need during these challenging times.

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Mr. Jasraj Singh Hallan (Calgary Forest Lawn, CPC)

Oct/28/22 11:01:54 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a very talented young woman from Calgary, Prabhleen Kaur Grewal. She is a grade 12 student who plays with Kings XI Field Hockey Society. She has been selected for Field Hockey Canada’s next-gen program. Prabhleen represented Alberta at the U18 nationals, where her team placed second, and she was given the tournament 11 award at the national championships. As she said, she is the first Punjabi girl to be chosen for both. She will also play with the Canadian senior women in the near future. I want to congratulate Prabhleen and her family for her accomplishments. In Calgary, field hockey has played a key role in building community and youth leadership. I want to congratulate the various field hockey clubs, like Kings XI, United Hawks Sports Club and United Field Hockey Club, for running very successful tournaments over the summer and their continued efforts to build a better future for our youth. I thank the coaches, organizers, parents and players for doing their part to build a strong community, together.

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Mr. Sameer Zuberi (Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.)

Oct/28/22 11:02:57 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last Friday, October 21, Emmanuel Christian School in Pierrefonds—Dollard held a walkathon against violence. The gathering honoured Jayson Colin, who at 26 tragically lost his life on August 10, 2022. Jayson was an Emmanuel graduate. Jayson was a victim of gun violence. Jayson was deeply involved in his community. Jayson was deeply loved. Let us recommit to creating communities that are safe from gun violence. Let us, as a society, address the root causes of violence. I commend Emmanuel Christian School for organizing this walkathon and for raising the voices of our community. Let us all take a stand against violence in all its forms. Let us continue to look at and address the causes of violence in our society. We owe it to Jayson.

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Mr. Brian Masse (Windsor West, NDP)

Oct/28/22 11:03:58 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as October comes to an end, so does Cybersecurity Awareness Month in Canada. This year I have increased hope. With the help of cybersecurity and fraud awareness experts across Canada, including John Mecher and Kevin Cosgrove, we have worked to ensure fraud awareness is at the forefront of discussions. Our goal is to safeguard and educate Canadians against the attacks coming at them from their computers, phones and doorsteps. Alongside my colleagues in the industry committee, we just reviewed our report on fraud, which holds the government accountable to make sure it is doing everything to fight fraudsters and to educate and protect Canadians. I have hope because, thanks to a historic U.S. settlement, some Canadian fraud victims had the opportunity to recuperate their losses to scammers when they used wire transfers through Western Union. I have hope, because the world is waking up to educating and protecting its citizens before they become victims. I am hopeful that all members in the House will work with me to educate Canadians on fraud and scams, and that the government will work with its global partners to advance protections and protect Canadians at the international level. We can do better, and we must do better. I have hope we will unite and fight these scammers and organized criminals.

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Ms. Annie Koutrakis (Vimy, Lib.)

Oct/28/22 11:05:05 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to acknowledge that October 28 is Oxi Day. Oxi Day, or “no” day, commemorates the moment in 1940, at the start of the Second World War, when Greece rejected Mussolini's ultimatum calling for the occupation of Greece by Italy's fascist forces, allies of the Germans and the Japanese. Oxi became a rallying call for Greek resistance to fascist aggression. Unified Greek forces defeated and repelled the Italian invasion, and more importantly, drew Nazi Germany into the conflict, which undermined its invasion of Russia and Ukraine, a critical junction in the ultimate Allied victory. The day symbolizes the courage to stand up to defend one’s home and freedom, to confront the aggression of a much larger, richer country and military, and to prevail with the help of one’s allies. Eighty-two years later, Oxi Day’s message is very relevant: [Member spoke in Greek]

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Mr. Robert Kitchen (Souris—Moose Mountain, CPC)

Oct/28/22 11:06:23 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, while the government sits back and watches Canadians struggle thanks to their lack of action on the just transition, I would like to highlight a group that is doing outstanding work surrounding the Liberal's phase-out of coal-fired power. South Saskatchewan Ready, an economic partnership that represents nine communities, commissioned a feasibility study on the devastating impacts of the transition. Not only did that study recently win the 2022 Constantinus International Award, as the Canadian champion. It was also awarded the Gold Medal at the international level. All federal funding to assist with the transition will end in March 2023, and the region stands to lose over $350 million dollars in GDP and a 67% drop in population. Only 3% of the federal funding provided has been for economic development, and combined with the Liberal's out-of-control inflation and cost of living, this will be the death knell for these communities. The government needs to stop pretending that its harmful, job-killing policies are actually taking meaningful steps to help the people of southeast Saskatchewan.

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Mr. Stéphane Lauzon (Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, Lib.)

Oct/28/22 11:07:29 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on Sunday, the Canadian Craft Brewers Association held its first Canada Beer Cup. This new national competition celebrates independent Canadian craft brewers that showcase quality and innovation in craft beer from coast to coast to coast. I have the honour of having one of the big winners of the competition in my riding. Les Brasseurs de Montebello won the gold medal for their Jack Rabbit beer, which is a dark pilsner, as well bronze for Le Grand Feu, their smoked IPA. That one is one of my favourites. Bravo to Riv and his crew. Craft brewers are a major economic driver for Canada's rural regions. They create many jobs and promote local history and culture. I am proud to acknowledge their positive impact on our communities. Three cheers for beer!

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Mrs. Marie-France Lalonde (Orléans, Lib.)

Oct/28/22 11:08:35 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to spotlight a constituent of Orléans and recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal, Kevin Frost. Kevin is a multisport world champion who has competed against able-bodied persons in all disciplines, and he has the gold medals and world records to prove it. Kevin has competed in rowing, track, cycling and golf. As we can all see, Kevin is quite the athlete. I would be remiss if I didn’t divulge that Kevin is also blind and deaf. Despite these disabilities, Kevin has shown what can happen when someone appreciates what they have and uses it to move forward in accomplishing extraordinary feats. Do not take my word for it; take his. Kevin just announced the release of his book, Deaf Blind Champion: A True Story of Hope, Inspiration, and Excellence in Sport and Life. where he gives readers a front-row seat into how his life changed when he received his diagnosis and what he did to persevere through the depression that engulfed him to become an accomplished sportsman, father, life partner, son, brother, teammate and activist. I congratulate Kevin.

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