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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 339

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 19, 2024 10:00AM
  • Sep/19/24 1:42:59 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-5 
Madam Speaker, the Liberal soft-on-crime bill, Bill C-5, would allow criminals convicted of sexual assault to serve their sentence at home in front of a television. Does the member believe survivors of military sexual trauma should have to endure their attacker serving out their sentence in the comfort of their house right down the street?
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  • Sep/19/24 1:43:29 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member is new to this place, and I congratulate him on his win. I certainly congratulate him on becoming a new member of the Standing Committee on National Defence. I look forward to working with him in the future. I think the Conservatives have a long way to go to understanding what listening to the voices of survivors of sexual trauma and violence truly is. I would point out that at the Conservative Party convention in 2023, one of their main spokespeople said in his speech that “Canadian values are being destroyed due to a lack of leadership and a woke movement that panders to narrow special interests.” He continued on a Jordan Peterson podcast and openly questioned the existence of a sexual misconduct crisis. I would ask the Conservative Party to look within as to who Conservatives are listening to regarding sexual misconduct and violence instead of taking the time to listen to survivors.
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  • Sep/19/24 1:48:57 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is a bit of a tug-of-war because we want to make sure the bill is moved through. I do not want any more women to find themselves in this tug-of-war between the two systems. It is unfair that they see their cases stayed because of it and that they have to go through that back-and-forth. It is also one of the reasons we asked for consistent reviews of this legislation after it is passed. It needs to happen, considering we are changing things back to how they once were in investigating and dealing with sexual trauma within the military. I wish the consultation had happened with survivors before, so the legislation, slow as it was to come forward, had been done in a better, more fulsome way. It is work we can do in committee. We have to work together. We have to get through a lot of partisanship to do it, but it is possible. I have seen it happen in the status of women and I hope to see it in national defence.
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  • Sep/19/24 4:10:10 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I was on the status of women committee when it studied sexual assault in the military, and the heartbreaking stories of the trauma that had been experienced demanded urgent action. However, here we are two and a bit more years later with nothing much done by the Liberal government. It is bringing forward a bill that may not even make it through the Senate by the time the next election happens. In the bill, I am specifically concerned about the increase in ministerial powers to get involved in individual cases. We saw in the past the same members and ministers of defence obstructing in the General Vance case and in several other cases. Could the member comment on what protections will be in place to ensure that ministers do not intervene in a way that is detrimental to survivors?
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