Senator Boisvenu: When the bill is studied in committee, you’ll no doubt come to defend it. Is the government open to making a major change, through which recidivists who leave a penitentiary are automatically tried and we can go after them in the community?

[English]

Senator Busson: I’m not sure that I totally understand the question, but if you’re asking whether or not the proposals in this regime will better help the police to identify, track and make compliant these offenders, I believe that is taking place. It’s not my government, but I would hope there could be amendments that make this even more effective.

Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: Would the senator agree to answer a question? Senator Busson, I have some experience with victims of sexual assault, particularly those who were murdered.

A few weeks ago, I was in Camrose, Alberta, where I met a family whose mother had been killed, as well as her four-year-old child, who was murdered a few hours later by a neighbour two doors down.

That neighbour was a criminal who had a lengthy record — he had already sexually assaulted and murdered a woman in the 1980s. He was in the system. He lived in an apartment building in town. In four and a half years, he changed locations four or five times; he never notified the authorities, which was part of his release conditions. What’s more, his neighbour was a police officer.

I understand that the bill will continue to add sex offenders to the registry, but does it include a mechanism to monitor these criminals once they are in the system? The problem is that, even if we add thousands of men to the registry, once they’re in the system and then released, if they aren’t monitored, they will continue to assault children and women.

Does the bill include a mechanism to monitor these dangerous men?

[English]

Senator Busson: Thank you very much, senator. I heard that story on the news, and I was incredibly touched and offended by the fact that this was a repeat offender who victimized this woman and her child.

I believe that the new provisions of the sex offender registry will empower police to do more to make sure that they track these offenders. There is provision for stricter registration and powers that allow the police to track and register offenders who are non-compliant. I do believe this would be an impetus for police to spend more time making sure these offenders are complying with their restrictions and their conditions.

[Translation]