44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 28, 2022 10:00AM
- Apr/28/22 2:24:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, with today's Motion No. 11, the government is in cover-up mode again, just like with WE Charity, Jody Wilson-Raybould and the secret documents from the Winnipeg lab.
The Prime Minister received an illegal gift. The RCMP even considered filing criminal charges of fraud against the Prime Minister.
Since the Prime Minister admits that no one gave him permission to break the law, will the Minister of Justice support our new request for an RCMP investigation?
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- Apr/28/22 2:25:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals need to understand that we are talking about the RCMP investigation of fraud against the government by the Prime Minister, not the Ethic Commissioner's study. The Prime Minister thinks he is above the law and the rest of us are under another piece of law. He accepted a $215,000 luxury private island vacation from someone who is actively lobbying the government for millions of taxpayers' money.
The environment minister provided the missing piece of the puzzle the RCMP needed to charge him. He admitted he did not have permission to take the trip. The RCMP has all of the puzzle pieces they need now to charge the Prime Minister with committing fraud against the government. Will the Prime Minister co-operate with that investigation?
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- Apr/28/22 2:27:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister cannot dodge these questions much longer. We have to remember, there is no statute of limitations under the Criminal Code here in Canada. In fact, the Prime Minister's silence sounds a lot like an admission of guilt.
The RCMP criminal brief said that, if the Prime Minister were any other Canadian, he would have been charged. Canadians are demanding that the Prime Minister be held to a higher standard. Will the Prime Minister lift the veil of secrecy, clear the air and proactively speak to the RCMP?
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- Apr/28/22 6:40:52 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise, as the New Democratic critic for public safety, to follow up on a question I asked the minister on December 10 of last year. That question was following an important report that was tabled in the 43rd Parliament on systemic racism in policing in Canada. I gave a very clear question to the minister at that time, when I asked him directly if he and his department would “implement the recommendations so that the RCMP could better serve all of our communities.”
His answer was that he was “going to continue to work with the RCMP to ensure that they provide top, world-class law enforcement right across the country so that we can have public safety for all Canadians.” Unfortunately, that is a little light on details, and I sincerely hope that the parliamentary secretary tonight can provide some clarification and more detail on exactly what the government is hoping to do.
Before I get into the details, I think it is important to really provide a basis for why this report and its recommendations were so important, and I am going to quote from the report:
Given the pervasive nature of systemic racism in policing in Canada, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security...has concluded that a transformative national effort is required to ensure that all Indigenous, Black and other racialized people in Canada are not subject to the discrimination and injustice that is inherent in the system as it exists today.
During the study, the committee acknowledged from witnesses, and they had a very broad cross-section of witnesses, a resounding acknowledgement of the reality of systemic racism in policing in Canada. The committee was told that accountability, oversight and transparency are critical to restoring trust with indigenous and racialized communities that are subject to systemic racism.
When we are talking about systemic racism, the committee provided a helpful quote from Senator Murray Sinclair. He said:
Systemic racism is when the system itself is based upon and founded upon racist beliefs and philosophies and thinking and has put in place policies and practices that literally force even the non-racists to act in a racist way.
I want to say this, because my communities in Cowichan—Malahat—Langford are entirely policed by the RCMP, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for what those frontline officers do in our communities. They are often the first on the scene and they are dealing with the opioid crisis, but we cannot step away from the fact that the RCMP itself, as a force and as a wider entity across Canada, is in need of reform.
I want to hear from the parliamentary secretary, because she was a member of the committee that produced that report, so she is very familiar with the witness testimony and the deliberations the committee went through. There are very specific recommendations in that report that could be instituted through legislative reform of the RCMP Act.
For example, there is recommendation 1, which really tackles the mandate, independence and efficacy of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission. This recommends making sure it has the ability to refer cases or recommend that criminal charges be laid, creating statutory timelines for responses from the RCMP, requiring the RCMP commissioner to annually report to the minister on steps taken to implement CRCC recommendations, and tabling that report to Parliament.
In closing, the recommendations 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 are all there for the government to follow up on, and I would like to have a clear answer from the parliamentary secretary on when her government is going to implement those recommendations.
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- Apr/28/22 6:49:55 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would just say to the hon. member that I appreciate his doing that and reaching out to the Library of Parliament, and I hope that he will share that report with me and that we can work together to ensure that the RCMP act reflects the recommendations from our report.
We are bringing forward clear timelines for compliance with the recommendations made regarding the CRCC. Those were very important recommendations and ones that will provide oversight for the RCMP, as well as consequences, which is something we had heard was lacking. We will continue to work collaboratively with partners, including the hon. member.
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