44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 21, 2023 10:00AM
- Sep/21/23 2:05:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I stand today to remember the second anniversary of the horrific murders of 16-month-old Noah McConnell and his mother, Mchale Busch. On September 16, 2021, a registered, repeat sex offender took their lives and altered the life of Cody McConnell, father and fiancé. Because of this devastating act, Cody has pushed for changes that would mean no one else has to suffer what he went through and continues to go through every day.
Along with presenting my private member’s bill, Noah’s Law, petition e-4460 was created by the member for Red Deer—Lacombe. The petition calls upon the government to impose stronger conditions against those sex offenders who are highly likely to repeat. The deadline to sign this petition is this Saturday, September 23, and I encourage all Canadians to sign the petition.
Let us work to empower the most vulnerable and prevent this from ever happening again.
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- Sep/21/23 2:51:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are only 736 dangerous offenders currently in custody, or were in custody, in 2022. These are the worst of the worst offenders, people like Paul Bernardo, pedophiles and repeat rapists. The most violent of records get this designation.
In Canada, federal penitentiaries with minimum-security designations generally do not have fences. People can just walk away, yet 57 of these dangerous offenders, the worst of the worst, were in minimum security last year.
What will this minister do to rectify the situation so that dangerous offenders cannot just walk away?
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- Sep/21/23 2:52:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is important when we are discussing issues as important as public safety to not put in the minds of Canadians that dangerous offenders simply walk away from federal penitentiaries. My colleague on the other side knows that is not the case.
These are among the most serious offenders in our federal correctional system, and this government will do everything necessary to ensure the safety of Canadians and to ensure that these dangerous offenders serve their prison sentences in the appropriate security institutions.
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- Sep/21/23 2:53:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister can tell that to the hundreds of victims of those 57 dangerous offenders in minimum security, especially at time when violent and sexual crimes against children are up 126%.
The government is asleep at the switch when it comes to housing, asleep at the switch when it comes to inflation, asleep at the switch when it comes to crime. Now it is asleep at the switch when it comes to public safety and jails.
The government may not be worth the cost financially. It is not worth the cost when it comes to public safety after eight years. When will the government wake up or will it just stay asleep at the switch?
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- Sep/21/23 2:54:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in May, serial rapist and murderer of young girls, Paul Bernardo, was transferred from maximum security to a medium-security prison, and Canadians were reasonably outraged by this.
After two whole months on the job, the new Minister of Public Safety has failed to move Bernardo back to a maximum-security prison where he belongs. Worse, new data tells us that hundreds of dangerous offenders, the worst, most violent criminals in the country, are in medium and even minimum-security prisons.
The minister has the authority to move Bernardo and others like him to maximum security prisons. Why has he not done so?
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- Sep/21/23 2:55:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, again, just because our friend on the other side continually asserts something does not make it real.
My responsibility is to ensure that the Correctional Service, by law and according to regulations, treats the most serious offenders in our prison system with the appropriate level of security. The decision to transfer inmates from one correctional institution to another is in the hands of the appropriate officials at Correctional Service of Canada.
Our government will continue to do everything necessary to hold these dangerous offenders to account.
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- Sep/21/23 2:56:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister does not get to escape his responsibility to Canadians. It is his duty to ensure that the most vile killers do not get an easy ride and that their victims get justice in our country.
Subsection 6 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act allows the minister to legally issue directives regarding dangerous offenders like Paul Bernardo. To be clear, the minister has the power to move him back to a maximum-security prison today, yet he is choosing not to. Why?
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Madam Speaker, I think this is an important bill that demands action, but intelligent action, obviously. The question I want to ask is not intended as an objection to the bill. It is simply a question.
Naturally, we cannot put a price on the safety of our citizens, especially in cases of domestic violence. This is clearly how we need to approach it. However, I wonder if my colleague has thought about the resources it will take. I would not want to be placed in a situation where we voted for legislation but are having trouble in implementing it.
My previous colleague referred to bracelets, and that may be one option. However, we also have to consider incarceration, and even longer periods of incarceration for certain groups of repeat offenders. This will require spending, which will probably fall on the governments of Quebec and the provinces.
Has anyone considered all this?
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