Speech

From the Prime Minister's Web Site (http://www.pm.gc.ca/)

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TACKLING CRIME THROUGH BAIL REFORM

November 23, 2006
Toronto, Ontario

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Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you, Dave, for that warm introduction – and the great job that you are doing.

Thank you all for coming.

In particular, I’m very pleased to be here with Premier McGuinty and Mayor Miller.

Between the three of us, we pretty much cover the entire political spectrum in Canada.

But today we are partisans for the same cause – reclaiming safe streets for all Canadians.

As you all know, cracking down on gang, gun and drug crime has been one of the top priorities of Canada’s New Government since we took office nearly ten months ago.

We made it a priority because Canadians had made it very clear to us that they wanted the scales of justice rebalanced.

Canadians want to bring safety back in our communities – which was once the hallmark of our peaceful, law-abiding society – our communities which are increasingly threatened by gang crime, which is often gun- and drug-related.

That’s why our government has introduced five new major anti-crime bills since we took office. We have taken action to:

Increase the mandatory minimum penalties for gun crimes;

Ban house arrest for serious offences;

Raise the age of protection from sexual exploitation;

Crack down on street racing; and,

Impose stricter conditions on dangerous offenders.

All these initiatives are enabling us to keep our commitments to Canadians.

And I am pleased to announce today that we are keeping our word on fighting crime, with a bill for bail reform.

In the House of Commons today, Justice Minister Vic Toews will introduce legislation designed to toughen up Canada’s bail system.

This bail reform package will apply to people when they stand accused of serious crimes involving firearms.

Among the crimes included are attempted murder, armed robbery, sexual assault with a weapon, kidnapping and extortion.

As the law stands, anyone accused of these heinous acts is granted bail and allowed to roam the streets unless a prosecutor can persuade a judge to hold them in jail.

This is unacceptable.

Our legislation will reverse the onus so that people charged with serious gun crimes will have to demonstrate to the courts why they should not stay in custody until their trial.

Too many Canadians are victims of criminals who are out on bail.

Just this month, a 23-year-old Toronto man accused of shooting four people – four people – in London, was granted bail.

Rejecting the Crown’s argument that the man was a threat to public safety, the judge, acting under the current law, ordered him to stay home with his mother.

He promptly vanished.

That means somewhere in Canada, maybe in London, maybe in this city, a man facing multiple violent firearms charges is freely roaming the streets.

And it’s hardly an isolated case.

In Toronto, police report that almost 1,000 crimes involving firearms or restricted weapons have been committed so far this year.

And nearly 40% of them were committed by someone who was on bail, parole, temporary absence or probation.

The people in this city know this story all too well.

As do Premier McGuinty and Mayor Miller.

Ever since the Yonge Street shootout that killed 15-year-old Jane Creba last Boxing Day, the Premier and the Mayor have been pressing Ottawa for these reforms.

Ontarians want action, Premier McGuinty said in a recent speech to the Police Association of Ontario.

And as Mayor Miller told a reporter, the onus needs to be reversed for bail in the case of gun crimes.

Most of the other provinces and territories support expanding the reverse onus principle to include bail hearings for serious gun crimes.

So do most law enforcement agencies.

And during the last election campaign, the federal Liberal and New Democratic parties also backed this approach.

And I hope they will continue to agree with us, because gun crime is a menace to public safety, and protecting Canadians must be the first priority of our bail system.

Thank you.

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News Release

From the Prime Minister's Web Site (http://www.pm.gc.ca/)

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CANADA’S NEW GOVERNMENT TACKLES GUN CRIME BY INTRODUCING BAIL REFORM AMENDMENTS

November 23, 2006
Toronto, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced that Canada’s New Government is delivering on another of its campaign commitments by introducing amendments to the Criminal Code to provide a “reverse onus” in bail hearings for offenses involving firearms.

“As you know, cracking down on gang, gun and drug crime has been one of the top priorities of Canada’s New Government since we took office nearly ten months ago,” the Prime Minister told his audience at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel. “We made it a priority because Canadians had made it very clear to us that they wanted the scales of justice rebalanced.”

The reforms, to be introduced today in the House of Commons by the Honourable Vic Toews, Q.C., the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, will require those accused of serious crimes involving firearms to provide sufficient justification to be granted bail while awaiting trial. Currently, it is up to Crown prosecutors to prove that the accused should not be granted bail, either because they represent a threat to society, they may flee to avoid prosecution or to maintain the public’s confidence in the administration of justice.

“In this city, police report that almost 1,000 crimes involving firearms or restricted weapons have been committed so far this year,” Prime Minister Harper said. “Nearly 40 per cent of them were committed by someone who was on bail, parole, temporary absence or probation. Gun crime is a menace to public safety, and protecting Canadians must be the first priority of our bail system.”

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Toronto Mayor David Miller both attended the announcement. The Prime Minister acknowledged the support he has received from them and many other municipal and provincial politicians from across the country for bail reform and other anti-crime bills introduced by his government since it assumed office.

Meanwhile, at a press conference in Montreal, the Prime Minister’s announcement was echoed by Conservative Senator Michael Fortier. “Unfortunately, Montreal is not immune to violent crime,” Senator Fortier said. “Whether break-ins or crimes linked to street gangs, newscasts are reminding us daily that Montrealers too have to cope with the violence, which is all too often tied to firearms.”

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Statement

From the Prime Minister's Web Site (http://www.pm.gc.ca/)

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STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

November 23, 2006
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement to the House of Commons concerning the motion tabled in respect of Quebec as a nation:

"That this House recognize that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada."

Mr. Speaker,

The true intention of the Bloc leader and the sovereignist camp is perfectly clear.

It is not to recognize what the Québécois are, but what the sovereignists would like them to be.

For the Bloc, this is not about Quebec as a nation; the National Assembly has already pronounced on that. This is about separation.

To them, nation means separation.

We saw his true intentions on October 27, when he said: “…the NDP has recognized for decades that Quebec forms a nation, yet every time there is a referendum, they act contrary to the positions they’ve taken.”

In other words, if we recognize the Québécois as a nation, we must vote “yes” in a referendum on separation.

And the Bloc leader’s attempt to lead the Québécois, in good faith, to support separation in spite of themselves reminds us of his mentor Jacques Parizeau and the “lobster traps”.

But the Québécois are not fooled by these clumsy tactics.

The former PQ Premier, Bernard Landry, posed the following question: “once that recognition is achieved, you have to know that you will then be faced with the following question: Why should the Quebec nation be content with being the province of another nation and forgo equality with your nation and all other nations?”

The answer is clear, because the Québécois have always played an historic role in advancing Canada with solidarity, courage and vision, and building a Quebec that is confident, self-reliant, united and proud within a Canada that is strong and united, independent and free.

When he landed in Québec City, Champlain did not say, “This isn’t going to work: it’s too far, it’s too cold, it’s too difficult.” No. Champlain and his companions worked hard because they believed in what they were doing, because they wanted to preserve their values, because they wanted to build a long-lasting, secure country.

And that is exactly what happened almost 400 years ago: the founding of the Canadian state.

Mr. Speaker, the Québécois know who they are.

They know they have contributed to Canada’s founding, development and greatness.

They know they have preserved their unique language and culture and promoted their values and interests within Canada.

The question is a straightforward one: do the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada? The answer is yes.

Do the Québécois form a nation independent from Canada? The answer is no, and it will always be no.

All throughout their history, the Québécois have always recognized the prophets of doom and the true guides of their destiny.

Because the Québécois since Cartier and Laurier to Mulroney and Trudeau have led this country, and millions like them have helped to build it.

And with their English- and French-speaking fellow citizens and people of all nationalities from around the world, they made this country what it is: the greatest country on Earth, a shining example in a dangerous and divided world of the harmony and unity that all peoples have the capacity to achieve.

And we will do what we must, what our forefathers and foremothers have always done, and that is to preserve this country—a strong, united, independent and free Canada.

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