44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 4, 2023 02:00PM
Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the work of My Voice, My Choice and its appearance at our justice committee.
As Conservatives, we initiated a study on the federal government's obligation to victims of crime. One of the many issues we heard around publication bans was about victims having the right to have their voice heard and taking back their agency, especially in the context of publication bans.
It was a unanimous finding of the committee that the government had been falling short on its obligation to victims of crime. We support measures that give a voice back to victims of crime. It is important that their voices be heard, and we support that every step of the way.
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Mr. Speaker, this legislation was a needed response to a Supreme Court decision, but I feel it could have gone further. It could have been tighter. There are a number of offences now that will not meet the threshold for inclusion in the registry, and there will be people who should have been included who will not be with the passage of this legislation.
Absolutely what happened with the issue around Bernardo's transfer is a travesty. It should have never happened. A witness came to us in our study on the government's obligation to victims of crime, and she said that in Canada we no longer have a justice system. We have a legal system, but not a justice system. I remember her words because I think of what happened with Bill C-75 to change our bail laws to create a revolving door that puts criminals back out on the streets. I think of the fact that Bill C-5 removed mandatory penalties for serious crimes against individuals. I also think of instances like the transfer that was put in place for Paul Bernardo. The government, by changing legislation, made that transfer inevitable. That is laid completely at the feet of the government. When it changed the law to put in a requirement that minimal holdings be implemented for each prisoner, it made that inevitable.
Absolutely we have a lot of work that needs to be done to protect our communities and to protect victims.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to make a brief announcement. The help centre for victims of sexual assault, or CALACS, in Longueuil helps women move forward following a sexual assault. The centre also works on prevention.
On October 15, I will be running 10 kilometres to raise money for CALACS, to help fund a prevention campaign in schools. CALACS staff want to go into high schools and CEGEPs to talk to young women and explain how to prevent this. I just wanted to make that brief announcement. I think it is important.
I have a question for my colleague. Unfortunately, women are still afraid of the justice system. In Quebec, it is estimated that only 5% of women who are victims of assault file a complaint. Even worse, out of 1,000 cases that do go to court, only three result in a conviction. That is appalling. The justice system is scaring women away. Even when cases do go to court, people are not convicted.
Does my colleague have any solutions to put forward?
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, I am going to donate to the cause, so I thank the member for that. It was good work.
The member is absolutely right that the vast majority of victims of sexual assault are women. He is also absolutely right that, as the member for Fundy Royal said, witnesses have told us that the justice system is a legal system and not really a justice system. We heard from witnesses at committee in our victims-of-crime study that they feel like they are on trial. When they are giving evidence under cross-examination about the sexual assault that happened against them, they feel like they are on trial. That is unfair and needs to be fixed.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Brantford—Brant for bringing forward all of the knowledge he has and for supporting women who have been victims of violence. I had the opportunity to take him to the London Abused Women's Centre and do round tables with him. I really appreciate his advocacy on behalf of all victims of crime.
One of the biggest things when looking at victims of crime, and the member talked about this near the end of his speech and it was one thing that we really worked on at the status of women committee, is ensuring there is justice training. I am thinking of Keira's Law. We saw 53 different court orders and unfortunately still lost this young life because there was not really an understanding.
My question is this. There is a concern that things might slip through the cracks—I guess I answered my question—so why should there be mandatory reporting onto the sex offenders list?
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Mr. Speaker, Western University's brief has a pretty good outline of what some of the definitions of these are, and I would go back to it, as it has been thought about. I think there are two dozen references of other literature in there that I would draw my colleague's attention to.
I would ask colleagues on the justice committee to intersect with some of the work that is being done on the industry committee regarding Bill C-27, the artificial intelligence and data act, to ensure that our laws are harmonized as we move forward and make sure that is done in a way so women, others, people in public life and children are not victimized.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his wonderful, researched and thoughtful speech. It is nice to see that he has also heard from people who are very concerned by this issue.
I spoke earlier about something that affects me. I will ask my colleague a question because, clearly, women are still afraid of the justice system.
In Quebec, sexual assault help centres have published figures showing that only 5% of victims of sex crimes file complaints. Of the cases that go before the courts, only 3 of 1,000 lead to charges.
The justice system still scares people. Charges are not laid. Clearly, people are not paying for their crimes.
Does my colleague have any possible solutions that could be proposed to address this problem?
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Madam Speaker, it is difficult to be brief, but our system does have to be fair.
However, I would like to take this opportunity to emphasize the importance of this bill and of giving a voice to people who have been silenced. In my opinion, it will lay the foundation for a renewed justice system, because we will be renewing trust in our justice system. That is the foundation of democracy.
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