- Member of Parliament
- Minister of Justice
Attorney General of Canada
- Liberal
- Parkdale—High Park
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 64%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $120,537.19
- Government Page
Mr. Speaker, I would just reflect on the fact that when we were looking at Bill S-12, if I remember the number correctly, with the sex offender registry, we heard greatly from victims about the context of things like non-disclosure agreements and where their autonomy was vitiated, and we looked at how we could recalibrate that so they could have control over their information. That is important and guides me in the work I do. What I would also underscore is that in the victims fund, we injected an amount of $40 million in 2023-24 to support victim-focused measures.
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Madam Chair, again, for his edification, I would point the member toward Bill C-48, which may have been passed before he arrived. It talked about serious, violent, repeat offenders being subjected to a reverse onus, so instead of being presumed to receive bail, they are presumed not to receive bail and have to convince a justice of the peace otherwise.
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Madam Chair, high-risk sex offenders are obviously a priority of ours. I indicated that we re-established the sex offender registry through the swift passage of Bill S-12.
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Madam Chair, we are constantly working to ensure the rights of victims, including female victims, are entrenched in law in Canada. That is why Bill C-21 included red flag laws. That is why we established the sex offender registry. That is why I have worked on two occasions to ensure there is a reverse—
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- May/23/24 8:56:38 p.m.
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Madam Chair, my opinion of victims is demonstrated through the prioritization of legislation we put through the House. I would include, in that regard, the sex offender registry, which was struck down by the Supreme Court of Canada. We worked with Pace successfully through the House and through the Senate to reinstall the sex offender registry to keep women in particular safe from—
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- May/23/24 8:32:32 p.m.
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Madam Chair, as I have indicated, extortion is on the rise. We have a mandatory minimum penalty for a repeat offender who uses a weapon for extortion. We are ensuring that extortion is being taken seriously because it is on the rise.
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Madam Chair, bail reform is critical, and that is why we passed Bill C-48. That is why we are always looking to protect Canadians from serious violent repeat offenders.
An hon. member: Oh, oh!
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- May/23/24 8:25:45 p.m.
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Madam Chair, the important piece about bail is ensuring that we are making bail changes to ensure that serious violent repeat offenders—
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- May/23/24 7:14:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I have indicated in this chamber, there is already a mandatory minimum sentence in place for people who are repeat offenders for auto theft.
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Mr. Speaker, there were a number of points in there, and I will respond to all of them.
The first point would be that in respect of Canadians' safety, what I would put to him is that Bill C-21, which he voted against, also dealt with intimate partner violence and things like red flag laws. Those have now become law, no thanks to him and his party and their voting pattern. The red flag laws actually allow the police to intercept firearms from the home of someone who is deemed to be a threat to their partner or to other individuals. That is called keeping Canadians safe, so I reject outright the premise of his earlier question.
With respect to bail, he will be aware that bail is a determination that is made by actors in our justice system, including justices of the peace. We have taken steps to strengthen the bail system to keep Canadians safe. On that piece, I will credit the member. He did vote in favour of Bill C-48, which deals with serious violent repeat offenders, on whom there is now a reverse onus for procuring bail. That is a step in the right direction in keeping Canadians safe.
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- Apr/29/24 3:09:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that member knows and should know that the bail reform bill, which the member actually voted in favour of, tackles serious violent repeat offenders, which include those who use serious violence in committing an auto theft.
What the member should also realize is that when the very bill he impugned, Bill C-75, was before this chamber in the 42nd Parliament, we promoted an augmentation, an increase in the penalty available for auto theft. He and all of his colleagues voted against that.
What I would prefer is some collaboration and a bit less hypocrisy.
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- Apr/29/24 3:08:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that member knows that repeat violent offenders are already dealt with by our bail regime. He voted in favour of that. He should also know that when Bill C-75, the very bill—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Apr/18/24 2:21:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our resolve to ensure communities are safe is strong. What we did over the past 18 months was that we enacted legislation that addresses the acute causes of crime. What we have done in the past 18 months was ensure that the bail reform system deals with violent, serious offenders. We had the support of law enforcement right around this country. The other thing that law enforcement has been talking to me and my colleague, the Minister of Public Safety, about is the acute need to address organized criminality in this country.
The previous times legislation has been in this chamber, they voted against such legislative initiatives. They have one more opportunity, but they have already announced that they will not be supporting us getting tough with money laundering and organized criminality.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question from my colleague across the way.
I want all Canadians watching us right now to know that crime in our communities is a priority for every parliamentarian in the House.
That being said, with Bill C‑48, which was just enacted two months ago and deals with bail, we focused specifically on the most violent offenders who used a firearm in the commission of their crime. We are aiming for a situation where these individuals will stay in prison.
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- Feb/5/24 2:51:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I very much appreciate the interventions from the member opposite, but if we are going to talk about the Criminal Code, let us talk about the mandatory minimum that still exists for repeat auto theft offenders under paragraph 331.1(1)a). Let us talk about the fact that when people commit an auto theft crime and they are involved with organized criminality, that is already an aggravating factor on sentencing, subparagraph 718.2(a)(iv). I would ask her to please take note.
The important piece is that we are bringing together stakeholders, auto industry and every actor who is involved in this system to ensure we tackle this at every dimension. That conversation is happening this week. It is too bad the Conservatives will not be there for it.
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- Feb/5/24 2:49:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I remind the member that she represents a part of the greater Toronto area, as do I. What I hear from my constituents, and people throughout the 905 area code, is that they are concerned about criminality. They applaud the fact that we have taken steps to ensure that, with bail reform, serious violent repeat offenders are being kept off our streets.
The other thing constituents applaud is that we work hand in hand with the police to keep our communities safe. Therefore, when I am standing with the chief of the Durham police and the Progressive Conservative premier and giving them $121 million to help with law enforcement, they are saying that is a step in the right direction. There is more to come.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her question and her commitment.
Gender-based violence is an epidemic in Canada. We recently passed Bill S‑12 to improve the national sex offender registry and give victims more power in the criminal justice process. We also passed a bill that guarantees that judges will receive sexual assault training.
We will continue to fight against gender-based violence so that all Canadians, both men and women, can be safe and feel safe.
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- Sep/20/23 4:58:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this bill was initiated in the Senate and studied extensively over some months and carefully considered in that chamber. That is the first point.
The second point is I absolutely share my colleague opposite's conviction and commitment to eradicating the scourge of sexual offenders in this country in keeping people safe. What is important is this bill helps to do that by maintaining a sex offender registry.
I have a simple question for him. Given we must pass this legislation quickly or else that registry will cease to operate for convictions that occur from October 29 and following, will the member opposite join me in committing to prevent that dangerous outcome and help to get this bill to royal assent before October 29 or is he willing to lose that sex offender registry going forward?
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- Sep/20/23 4:43:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member opposite's contribution.
I would say that we are enacting what we believe would be the strongest possible regime against sex offenders in compliance with the Supreme Court's direction. It is crucial that victims and survivors of sexual crimes can feel safe and can have confidence in our criminal justice system.
We must pass this legislation quickly. It must receive royal assent before October 28 or else the national sex offender registry would cease to function going forward. Will my colleague opposite join me in supporting this legislation and preventing this dangerous outcome?
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- Sep/20/23 4:31:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would say a couple of things. What is critically important is understanding that, when we have automatic registration, as we are proposing, for child offenders and repeat offenders, and we also have a rebuttable presumption, we are going to end up with the vast majority of individuals who are sexual offenders maintaining to be registered. That is the first point. That is is critical to public safety and to empowering victims.
The second point is a critical one about what happened in Parliament before I was ever elected, and that was that there had been a notion and suggestion coming out of the committee to remove prosecutor's discretion but maintain judicial discretion. That is exactly what we are proposing to do here today in compliance with the Supreme Court of Canada.
As the Attorney General of Canada, my fundamental role is promoting safety, always in compliance with the charter. When the courts give me a directive that says one aspect of our pieces of legislation is not compliant, it is incumbent upon me, on behalf of all Canadians, to ensure that we are enacting new legislation that complies with the charter. This bill would do just that by ensuring that there is judicial discretion guided by important criteria. However, in the main and in the majority of the cases, people will be registered, which is, I think, the important point the member opposite is making.
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