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House Hansard - 221

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 20, 2023 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 221 - Sep/20/23
Mr. Rhéal Éloi Fortin (Rivière-du-Nord, BQ)
  • Sep/20/23 4:44:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I can already confirm that the Bloc Québécois is pleased with this bill and intends to support it. That said, I look forward to studying it in committee because, as with many bills, questions do arise. I will come back to that in my speech in a few moments. I am going to ask my colleague a question that I would have liked to ask the minister. I was unable to do so because I arrived just a little too late. I see that this bill is in response to a Supreme Court decision handed down on October 28, 2022. The bill, however, was introduced on April 26, 2023, six months later. Furthermore, it was not introduced by the government, but by Senator Marc Gold in the Senate. I have a number of questions because we face a legislative gap in a month. The Supreme Court said that there will no longer be a registry in a month., so we are going to have to rush the parliamentary process a bit to get it passed more quickly, unless we accept the upcoming legislative gap. How does the minister see this? Why did six months go by between the Supreme Court decision and the bill's introduction? What does the government intend to do to ensure that the bill is passed before October 29?
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Context: House Hansard - 221 - Sep/20/23
Hon. Arif Virani (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Lib.)
  • 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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Context: House Hansard - 221 - Sep/20/23
Mr. Randall Garrison
  • Sep/20/23 5:44:46 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, there are two parts that I did not talk about, which I think are significant improvements in the sex offender registry. There would be two more offences added to a list for automatic registration. One of those is sextortion offences where so-called revenge porn is used by an ex against their partner who has left them and they are angry, so they post intimate images without consent. The second is that any posting of intimate images without consent would result in automatic registration as a sex offender. I think those are two very important steps. They are already in the bill. I just did not have time to mention them in my speech. There were some changes made to the original text of the bill in the Senate. I think it is important that we look at those closely. I think it is important we hear from My Voice, My Choice once again to make sure this bill meets their objectives.
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