Mr. Speaker, it has been nearly three months, actually a little over three months, since I asked the Minister of Justice a very important question for the people in my constituency and across the country, which was, in essence, when is the Liberal government going to stop putting the rights of offenders ahead of the rights of victims in this country?

Over the summer, we have seen a proliferation, an expansion, a continuation of crime and lawlessness in large cities and small communities all across this country. On August 29, the justice minister said, “This isn’t the Wild West.” I would like to read some headlines that followed that comment.

This is from August 29: “Repeat offender charged after alleged attack on transit police officer in Vancouver”. This is from August 30: “Police say over 80 shots fired, three injured in downtown Hamilton shooting”. This is from August 31: “Police say man, 46, 'targeted' in Vaughan homicide; 3 suspects wanted”. This is from September 1: “2 men shot in Scarborough, Toronto police appeal for info”.

This is from September 2: “Shooting at Abbotsford, B.C., home leaves residents 'shaken' but uninjured”. This is from September 3: “12-year-old charged with attempted murder in Markham shooting”. Believe it or not, that 12-year-old was out on bail. This is from September 4: “Woman 'kidnapped', family member shot during yet another Ontario home invasion”. This is from September 5: two people killed and two injured in a double homicide in Vancouver.

To be respectful of the House's time, I will just skip ahead to a headline from a few hours ago: “Boy, 12, and man charged after unhoused man killed in unprovoked attack, Toronto police say”. That was a different 12-year-old.

Every single day since the Minister of Justice mocked Canadians concerned about crime, there has been yet another example, and there are many more that I did not have time to share today. Many of these cases are offenders out on bail, out on release or under conditions after previous criminality that has already been known.

This has long since passed the point where we even need to provide evidence of how the bail system and the justice system in this country have been broken. The one thing we can say for certain is that this has all happened under the Liberal government's watch over the last 10 years. There has been a series of legislative changes that have made bail easier to get and have resulted in more criminals out on the streets.

This is a government that likes to say it listens to the experts. I would like to highlight some of the thoughts that have been shared by police chiefs in my riding of Elgin—St. Thomas—London South. One comes from the police chief in London, Ontario. Chief Thai Truong says, “This kind of violence, and the total disregard for public safety, is a symptom of a larger issue”, and he said that issue is “the criminal justice system.”

Chief Kyle Johnstone of Aylmer said, “We are seeing a troubling pattern where individuals with a demonstrated history of criminal behaviour are being released back into the community, only to reoffend within days”. Chief Marc Roskamp of St. Thomas said, “The current bail approach continues to allow high-risk individuals to reoffend once released.”

My question for the Minister of Justice is very simple. When will the Liberal government accept the failure of Bill C-75 and introduce real bail reform that puts the rights of victims first?

Andrew Lawton

Transcript

Adjournment Proceedings

Discussions (0)