SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Member of Parliament

Matthew Green

  • Member of Parliament
  • Member of Parliament
  • NDP
  • Hamilton Centre
  • Ontario
  • Voting Attendance: 66%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $131,250.15

  • Government Page
Context: House Hansard - 85 - Jun/9/22
Mr. Matthew Green (Hamilton Centre, NDP)
  • Jun/9/22 12:46:52 p.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-5 
Madam Speaker, I believe I heard the hon. member suggest that this was targeting the wrong demographic. I will set that aside for a moment and ask the hon. member if he would least concede that the tough-on-crime war against drugs has been an absolute and abject failure and that this bill at least provides some relief through expungement so that people who are caught with simple possession do not have to spend the entirety of their lives with the stigma of having a record. Would he at least not concede that expunging non-violent simple possession charges is the right, appropriate and just thing to do?
109 words
All Topics
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 85 - Jun/9/22
Mr. Matthew Green (Hamilton Centre, NDP)
  • Jun/9/22 11:23:13 a.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-5 
Madam Speaker, the Liberals had an opportunity, with this bill, to provide full decriminalization for simple drug possession. In fact, this hon. member voted against the hon. member for Courtenay—Alberni's private member's bill, Bill C-216, which would have been an opportunity to provide justice to people. How does the hon. member reconcile blocking the decriminalization of simple drug possession, while understanding all the impacts this has on our community when it comes to extended sentencing?
80 words
All Topics
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 85 - Jun/9/22
Mr. Matthew Green (Hamilton Centre, NDP)
  • Jun/9/22 11:11:45 a.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-5 
Madam Speaker, I rise today to echo the calls from the Black Legal Action Centre, the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies and the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund. We know that there have been some incremental steps that are, by and large, due to some of the good amendments that we were able to put forward as New Democrats. In the Liberals' submission to the committee, they called for the removal of mandatory minimums that were deemed to be unconstitutional, the removal of the band of conditional sentencing for offences that had mandatory minimum penalties, and the fulfillment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's call to action 32 to allow a trial judge, upon giving reasons, to depart from the mandatory minimum sentence. Finally, there are lots of conversations about these disproportional impacts on Canadians of African descent, yet the government still has not addressed an amendment to subsection 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code so that sentencing judges can have the information required to pass appropriate sentences on Black defendants. When will the government finally get around to listening to communities and taking substantive steps, rather than incremental steps, toward justice within this country?
200 words
All Topics
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border