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Hon. Arif Virani

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

Context: House Hansard - 316 - May/23/24

May/23/24 9:03:46 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I appreciate that the member opposite is new to the House and I welcome him. What I would indicate to him is that we have been spending some time talking about the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I would encourage him to look at the fact that constitutional protections apply to bail and are entrenched in section 11(e) of the charter.

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Context: House Hansard - 316 - May/23/24

Hon. Arif Virani

May/23/24 8:46:28 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-63

Madam Chair, what I said at that committee, I will say again here: the Lego in my basement is subject to more restrictions than the screens my children are on. That has to change. We need to change the incentivization on social media companies from monetary incentivization to safety incentivization. This legislation would create a duty to protect children and a duty to remove content. I hope the opposition is listening. The prosecution would be facilitated, in terms of child sex predators, by making changes to the Mandatory Reporting Act, such that the evidence must be preserved for one year. Someone will have up to five years to lay a charge. All entities, including social media companies, must report, and they must report to a central clearing facility. That is critical to facilitating the prosecutions. That is what law enforcement has asked us for. That is what the mothers and fathers affected by things like sextortion around this country have asked us for. That is what will help keep kids from being induced to self-harm, which includes, sadly and tragically, suicide in the case of Carson Cleland in Prince George, B.C., and so many other children around this country. What we understand from the Centre for Child Protection is that 70 times per week they get notifications of sextortion, and that is only the kids who are coming forward. It is critical to address this issue with haste. We need to pass Bill C-63 at second reading and get it to committee to hear from experts about the pressing need for this bill.

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Context: House Hansard - 281 - Feb/13/24

Hon. Arif Virani (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Lib.)

Feb/13/24 2:40:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, medical assistance in dying is a deeply personal and complex choice. There is always a balance to be struck between an individual's autonomy and dignity, and the protection of the vulnerable. We have taken a cautious approach from the beginning. We owe it to Canadians and Quebeckers to treat these issues thoughtfully and to proceed with caution.

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Context: House Hansard - 280 - Feb/12/24

Hon. Arif Virani (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Lib.)

Feb/12/24 2:48:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the targeting of children in this country is extremely troubling. It is depraved, and, frankly, as a parent I find it disgusting. What the member opposite is highlighting is a problem that absolutely requires a remedy. What we are proposing is comprehensive legislation that will do everything necessary to keep Canadian children safe from those people who would prey upon them in online spaces and from those who would keep them away from their parents and the protection they need. That is the type of protection we will legislate, and we will do it forthwith.

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Context: House Hansard - 176 - Mar/30/23

Mr. Arif Virani

Mar/30/23 1:04:32 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-10

Mr. Speaker, I think the Senate amendments deserve scrutiny and careful study. We are thankful for the intense study that took place on the Senate side. We believe that, given the extensive study of Bill C-10 in the 43rd Parliament, and given the nature of the legislation we have tabled in the House already, which is replete with user-generated content protections that relate to the exact issue my friend opposite is raising, those protections are already in place and that potentially introducing further aspects of this would superfluous and unnecessary.

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SoVote

Minister of Justice Attorney General of Canada

Hon. Arif Virani