CANADA House of Commons Debates VOLUME 141 Ï NUMBER 127 Ï 1st SESSION Ï 39th PARLIAMENT OFFICIAL REPORT (HANSARD) Friday, March 23, 2007 Speaker: The Honourable Peter Milliken CONTENTS (Table of Contents appears at back of this issue.) Also available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address: http://www.parl.gc.ca 7825 HOUSE OF COMMONS Friday, March 23, 2007 The House met at 10 a.m. gun related offences. I was proud to support this initiative with him then and I am proud to do so now. The presumption of innocence and the right not to be denied bail Prayers without just cause are rights protected under the Charters of Rights and Freedoms. I firmly believe that this bill is in keeping with the spirit of the charter. It enhances our safety while still respecting our GOVERNMENT ORDERS basic rights. Ï (1005) When I talk to people such as Chief Superintendent Fraser MacRae of the Surrey RCMP detachment or Chief Constable Jim [English] Cessford of the Delta police department, I know how important is CRIMINAL CODE this legislation. I hear it everywhere from my constituents of Newton —North Delta. These voices from my riding of Newton—North The House resumed from February 13 consideration of the motion Delta must be heard. It is so important that they be part of the that Bill C-35, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (reverse onus in process. bail hearings for firearm-related offences), be read the second time and referred to a committee. Why is the minority Conservative government not listening? These men and women, the ones on the street keeping us safe every Mr. Sukh Dhaliwal (Newton—North Delta, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, day, are the ones who best understand what is needed to keep our I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for North homes, our families and our children safe. We must do all that we Vancouver. can to support them. That is why I am saddened by the cynical It is an honour for me to rise in the House here today to discuss partisan games that the government is playing with such important Bill C-35. I cannot understand why my Conservative friends on the legislation. other side continue to delay this bill becoming law. The official opposition has tried more than three times in the last I must point out that the Liberal Party has already gone a long way six months to speed up many government bills dealing with justice to putting in place laws to make the jobs of our men and women in issues. Each time the Conservative Party has shown that they are uniform easier. I think of legislation like the anti-gangster law. more interested in politicking than in actually passing their own legislation and making our families safer. I would also like to point out that during the 13 years of the previous Liberal administration, we saw crime rates drop by more I would remind the House that it was my hon. colleague, the than 20% in some cases. This bill will only enhance those provisions Liberal justice critic, who tabled a motion that proposed the that the Liberal Party has already provided. immediate passing of four bills: Bill C-18, Bill C-22, Bill C-23 and Bill C-35, the very bill we are all here still debating today. Bill C-35 will make the streets safer by keeping criminals who use guns in prison, instead of out on bail to commit more crimes. If it were not for this cynical government's obstruction, we could This is a bill I am proud to support and I cannot understand why have sent all of this legislation to the Senate and put it on the fast my Conservative colleagues keep on postponing passage of this track to becoming law. In one swoop we could have passed more legislation. than half of the government's entire justice agenda. We could have taken major steps in protecting our families and our communities, This bill is designed to change the Criminal Code so that reverse but the Conservative House leader raised a point of order to block onus will be required if an accused is charged of crimes with a gun. the Liberal motion and caused more delays in passing serious anti- This bill will also be used against those charged with gun trafficking, crime legislation. possession for the purpose of trafficking or gun smuggling. Why will the government not take yes for an answer and pass its I would like to remind the House that it was the right hon. member own legislation for the sake of our safety? The government knows for LaSalle—Émard who brought me into this political arena. In the that a majority of MPs in the House of Commons want to pass these 2006 election he supported the idea of reverse onus bail hearings for bills and the government will just not stop dragging its feet. 7826 COMMONS DEBATES March 23, 2007 Government Orders The fact that the government is blocking its own legislation proves are trying to serve us the guts. We want to have a real meaningful that it is not serious about crime. It only wants to use these bills as an and workable plan to solve the criminal justice system. election issue, not as a way to make our neighbours and communities safer. The Canadian people deserve better. They deserve a I would like the member to simply give a commitment that he will government that will not play politics with the Criminal Code. help us, today for example, finish Bill C-35 and that we can get on The late Pierre Trudeau said, “just watch me”. Well, the Canadian with this. It is a very important agenda for the Canadian people. people are watching. The people of the riding of Newton—North Delta are watching. The people are watching the government play Mr. Sukh Dhaliwal: Mr. Speaker, the member asked for my politics with the safety of our children and families. Canadians and commitment. I certainly will be supporting this bill and will do the good people of my riding of Newton—North Delta deserve anything possible on my part to help pass this legislation. better. They deserve a government and a leader who will put the safety of our families ahead of politics. However, I would also remind the hon. member that if he was in the House the other day, the hon. critic for justice brought in a When I look at the justice platform put forward by the hon. Leader motion to speed up the legislation that I mentioned: Bill C-18, the of the Opposition, I have hope that the government might also finally DNA identification bill that would help police solve many missing get one. The Liberal Party has proposed a new plan, one that would persons cases; Bill C-22, the age of consent bill that would have have a major impact on the way we approach safety and justice in made our children, our sons and daughters, safer; Bill C-23, the our country. It is not enough to simply talk tough on crime and then criminal procedures bill, a bill that would help to make our justice do nothing as the minority Conservative government has done so far. system more efficient; and Bill C-35, the reverse onus bill that we We must deal with every aspect of fighting crime on our streets. are debating today. We must work to prevent crime. We must work to make it easier for our police to catch criminals. When criminals are caught we must In fact, if the hon. member were here, he would have noticed that work to see them convicted through competent and quick the House leader on the Conservative side raised a point of order not administration. When they are convicted we must work to to support that option that we brought in to speed up not only one of rehabilitate those criminals, so that when they get out of prison those bills, but four of them. they do not commit more crimes. I would encourage the government and all members of the I was in Surrey last month, where the mayor of Surrey along with Conservative Party to support the legislation and also support the all the stakeholders put a crime prevention strategy in place. In six Liberal idea to fast track those bills that I mentioned earlier. I months they are much further ahead of where we are today with the encourage them to support our men and women in uniform who keep Conservative government delaying and playing politics. So, I would our streets safer and to support the official opposition when it has the ask the hon. member to ask the House leader and his Conservative guts to do what must be done to see this legislation pass to improve colleagues to support and get those bills passed so we can protect our our safety and justice system. streets. We want no more delays, no more partisan politics and tactics, and Ï (1015) no more games. Let us get the job done. Canadians are counting on us. Mr. Ken Epp: Mr. Speaker, I would like to just follow up on this. I am not on the justice committee and I do not follow all of the Ï (1010) minute details of these different bills as they go through the process, Mr. Ken Epp (Edmonton—Sherwood Park, CPC): Mr. but it seems to me that a number of the bills that the member Speaker, I listened carefully to the member's speech.