Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Right now, the public trust is being woefully undermined. I was vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security when we worked on and debated Bill C-83, which came into force in 2019 and made changes to the conditions of detention. While we are debating, and working and voting on bills, the public is not always very aware of what is going on. Today, however, we are seeing the result of all this. We see situations such as that of Paul Bernardo, who was transferred to a medium‑security prison, and that of Luka Magnotta, who has already been transferred to a medium‑security prison only about 10 years into his incarceration. People don't understand why, and that's to be expected.

In this regard, the proposed motion is very important. We want to understand why the Liberal government implemented this legislation in 2019 and how the process was carried out.

We have to think about the victims. We talk about victims, but we always forget that they are the main people involved. The law is clear: Victims must be kept informed. We even have the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights. It has been in effect since 2014, but this government never complies with it. Victims have a right to information, protection, participation and restitution. The rights to information and participation have not been respected. These rights were violated during the handling of the Paul Bernardo case.

Why do we always have to fight for victims to be heard and for their rights to be respected?

We're talking about Paul Bernardo and Luka Magnotta, to name just two, but surely there are others who have been transferred under the same conditions. That's what we want to know, actually. Why do murderers and criminals like them benefit from more lenient prison conditions when they are Canada's worst offenders?

Pierre Paul-Hus

$427,255.00