Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands)
2020-11-16 13:54 [p.1899]

Madam Speaker, although it is a little outside the scope of Bill C-3, one of the places where we see systemic racism is in the use of injunctions. I know he will have experienced, as a British Columbian, the use of injunctions to arrest indigenous protestors. However, when indigenous nations go to seek injunctions to protect territory, they are far less likely to be granted one than corporations that seek injunctions to violate indigenous rights and pursue projects like pipelines.

I wonder if my hon. colleague has some thoughts on how we might want to reform injunction law to deal with the systemic racism throughout our criminal justice system.

Alistair MacGregor (Cowichan—Malahat—Langford)
2020-11-16 13:55 [p.1899]

Madam Speaker, the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands raises an important point. I know that a couple of years ago she joined with the now mayor of Vancouver, Kennedy Stewart, to protest the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline. It is quite interesting to note, as she correctly pointed out, the treatments that corporations get versus indigenous protestors who, in many ways, are there trying to protect what is rightfully theirs since pre-contact. These are their traditional and unceded territories. For these projects to proceed, it is important we have that full consent going forward.

It is an interesting question. It is certainly one about which I, as a Vancouver Islander, have been rightly concerned. I still have constituents to this day writing to me about these specific issues. Therefore, I would agree with her that, when we are talking about Bill C-3 and the stereotypes and myths that exist and are acknowledged in this legislation, it does allow us to open up a broader conversation about the justice system as a whole. That is why I acknowledged in my comments that this was a small but important legislative step. However, it is important that we follow through with further actions and commitments to make the justice system much better for all Black, indigenous and persons of colour because of the discrimination the frequently experience.

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Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands)
2020-09-30 0:40 [p.319]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia.

I felt the same way when our colleague from Calgary Nose Hill spoke about the terrible tragedy of the death of Joyce Echaquan, an indigenous woman. A few minutes ago, I read in the news that an investigation has been launched and a nurse fired.

The problem of racism also exists in our public health system in British Columbia. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, a prominent indigenous woman and lawyer, is now leading an investigation into a similar matter. However, the circumstances are not as horrifying as those mentioned by my colleague.

What does my colleague think we can do to eliminate racism in our societies? It is not the focus of the bill before us, but that is what is in our hearts right now.

Kristina Michaud (Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia)
2020-09-30 0:42 [p.319]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. I am glad that she raised this subject.

I will come back to what I was saying earlier. Prorogation had several negative repercussions. I had the opportunity to sit on the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, which was studying systemic racism in Canada’s police services. Yes, racism is present in the health system, in police services and in many other places.

There have been reports on systemic racism. Everyone recognizes it. We were about to draft a new report, but Parliament was prorogued and the committee is no longer. The government must act. It knows what to do. The demands of the various groups have not changed. We know what needs to be done to eliminate or at least to work on eliminating systemic racism. However, the government chose to prorogue Parliament because of the scandal.

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It is my first full day home after a long shift in Ottawa, from June 1-18. The COVID-19 pandemic has been nearly over-shadowed these last few months by issues of racism and police violence. It is almost one month since the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed, handcuffed, innocent black man by the Minnesota police. The anger and cries for justice in the face of anti-Black racism have not lost momentum. On the contrary, Black Lives Matters protests have spread the message globally that racism must end.

For any Canadians who felt these issues did not touch us, the recent killings of indigenous people in New Brunswick are a wake-up call. Chantel Moore, a young Tla-o-qui-aht woman, had only recently moved from her home on Vancouver Island to be closer to her own mother and small daughter when she was killed by Edmundston, NB police. Seven days later, Rodney Levi, a local Mi’kmaq First Nation father of three, was killed by RCMP. I happen to know people who knew both Rodney and Chantel. What they seemed to have in common, in addition to being shot by police, is that both were well-loved. Their deaths are unexplained, shocking and unacceptable.

The video of the brutal attack on Chief Alan Adams, also released this week, further undermine any confidence in the RCMP and its treatment of indigenous people and people of colour.

On Wednesday, I held a press conference on Parliament Hill to repeat our call for a full inquiry into the RCMP as an institution, as well as into the systemic racism in police forces and the RCMP in particular. Watch video of entire press conference here: Greens call for inquiry into the RCMP.

We must ensure zero tolerance for racism from the RCMP and from local forces. In that press conference, I revealed further evidence of the degree to which the RCMP is racist as an institution. Detailed ATI revealed that the RCMP dishonestly rigged the bidding process for their new Communications Centre in Nova Scotia to deny the Millbrook First Nation a fair chance at winning the contract. This one example speaks volumes to me. For any entity to pull such a transparent bit of “cooking the books” means they believe they are unaccountable and above the law. This cannot be allowed to go uninvestigated. (see details of this contract here: Greens demand full inquiry into RCMP ) Most media focused on the uproar over Jagmeet Singh being ejected from the House. I think the focus must stay on the real issue.

As we try to navigate issues of diversity and race across Canada, the Green Party leadership race is also trying to level the playing field to ensure support for intersectional equity-seeking candidates. I have to apologise to those of you who received a fund-raising letter from the Annamie Paul campaign. I deeply regret the long time lag between assisting Annamie and the other candidates for whom assistance is planned. I know it created the impression that the letter from me was an endorsement. It is not. I am not endorsing Annamie Paul, nor will I endorse anyone in this race. My commitments to Annamie’s team are now complete.

Within the next few days, I expect that the party will allow me to write all our members a fund-raising email to assist other candidates. I am committed to do any fundraising events with the intersectional equity-seeking candidates upon their request.
We are working through difficult issues.  We are innovating. We are “walking the talk”; of truly supporting candidates from equity-seeking backgrounds. We have made mistakes. We will likely make more.  There is no “add water and stir”; handbook for taking a party that is overwhelmingly white and actually leveling the playing field of politics.  Politics has for generations been primarily the domain of straight white men.  That is changing, but it is a slow change. It leaves many people still looking in at a parliament where it is hard to find people who share their life experiences. This must change.

The leadership race is challenged by taking place in a pandemic. Events have to be on line. We are so grateful to Fair Vote Canada for hosting the first virtual event of the campaign – the first of several debates. This debate will focus on Electoral reform and the need for proportional representation. The benefits of fair voting are never far from my mind. I focused on PR as part of my speech this week in the House. response to the supplementary estimates. Please register at this link and tune in (https://www.fairvote.ca/greensdebatedemocracy/) for the first of the debates between and among the ten candidates for leadership. I will co-host with my immediate  predecessor, Jim Harris. We are both excited and positive about the strong field of diverse candidates. One of these ten candidates will be the tenth leader of the Green Party of Canada and take us to new heights in the next election!

Also never far from my mind is the worsening climate emergency. Wednesday, June 17th was the one year anniversary of the passage of the House of Commons motion that we are in a climate emergency. Watch my five minutes of questioning of Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson. I contrast the government’s response to the COVID-19 emergency and the pressing climate emergency. Elizabeth May: When will the government take the climate crisis as seriously as it is taking the COVID-19 pandemic?

Stay well and safe.

Much love to all,

Elizabeth

This weekly newsletter is published by Elizabeth’s EDA in Saanich-Gulf Islands. You can sign up for it here.

E-petitions open for signature
 e-2447 Open competition for research funding (closes June 23)
 e-2450 Legalize the transportation of CBD products across the Canadian border (closes June 26)
 e-2624 Include long-term care in the public health system (closes July 3)
 e-2416 Mandatory labelling of food containing GMOs (closes July 4)
 e-2655 Extend work permit timit limit for international students (closes July 10)
 e-2471 Grant the RCMP Funding for Body Cameras (closes July 16)
 e-2534 Amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (closes August 14)
 e-2565 Request that Israel immediately lift the blockade on Gaza (closes September 4)
 e-2583 Implement a Guaranteed Livable Income (closes 19 August)

 e-2615 Divest CPP from fossil fuel investments (closes October 3)

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June 17, 2020

OTTAWA – Last week, Green Party parliamentary leader Elizabeth May stated: “The RCMP is a racist institution.” Today, Ms. May provided further evidence of the institution’s racist, anti-Indigenous attitude.

In 2017, in what was supposed to be a fair and open competition to locate a new RCMP Occupational Communication Centre in Nova Scotia, the RCMP rigged the process to rule out the bid of the Millbrook First Nation.

The details of how this was done emerged through Access to Information requests and are laid out in a March 25, 2020 letter from Chief Robert Gloade of Millbrook First Nation to Public Safety Minister Bill Blair (attached).

“Surely a claim to respect the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples requires, at a minimum, fair access to economic opportunities,” said Ms. May. “But the RCMP unfairly added an unexplained $1.6 million in costs to the Millbrook proposal, while inaccurately describing the RCMP HQ proposal as involving zero rent.

“Over the years I served as leader of the Green Party of Canada, we have called for public inquiries into the RCMP multiple times. Occasionally, a review took place but never with the teeth to allow investigators to get to the facts.”

Issues requiring investigations include:

-RCMP interference in the 2006 election;

-The RCMP’s militarized approach, including the use of violence against peaceful protesters at Elsipogtog First Nation in New Brunswick in 2013;

-Systemic sexism in the RCMP and horrific treatment of female officers;

-What the RCMP knew about the scandal of money laundering in British Columbia casinos;

-The violent arrest of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs last winter; and

-The degree to which racists and those with links to white supremacist organizations have joined the RCMP.

“We also need an inquiry into how the RCMP handled the April 2020 mass murder in Nova Scotia that ranged from Portapique to the Wentworth Valley, Debert and Shubenacadie, the killing of Rodney Levi by New Brunswick RCMP, as well as this contract ‘fixing’ to advantage the RCMP proposal and disadvantage Millbrook First Nation,” said Ms. May.

“In other words, it is time to place the RCMP under a microscope. I want to know why the RCMP is receiving an unexplained additional $18 million in supplementary estimates on top of its $3.5 billion budget and additional $220 million, to, quite rightly, compensate officers injured on the job. The $18 million is without detail. Now would be a good time to say ‘no.’

“The collectivity of recent (post-2005) experiences does not inspire confidence. The impression is of an unaccountable, secretive organization. It is time for a thorough review to ask whether this institution is capable of reform.”

*Letter to Ministers attached

# # #

For more information or to arrange an interview

Debra Eindiguer

613-240-8921

debra@greenparty.ca

Rosie Emery
Press Secretary

613-562-4916 ext. 204

rosie.emery@greenparty.ca

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Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands)
2020-06-02 12:31

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

This is indeed a difficult day. It’s a difficult week. These have been difficult weeks.

I stand here and want to begin by acknowledging that we are all on the traditional territory of the Algonquin peoples, and again to say meegwetch, on a day like this when we’re focusing on something so painful that really is beyond partisanship and that should bind us together as people who say we cannot tolerate racism, not in this country. But we know it’s here.

As the Prime Minister just said,“Racism never has a place in this country”.

But we know it’s here and we know it’s living with us.

We are facing, in this pandemic, two dangerous, invisible viruses. One is COVID-19 and the other one we’ve tolerated far too long, which is race-based hatred, hate speech and anti-black racism. Yes, black lives matter. I want to do nothing but just chant it in this place until we all stand together and say, “Black lives matter.”

What we are seeing in the murder of George Floyd is exactly as my colleague from the Bloc Québécois said:
“ George Floyd is not a victim of racism; he is another victim of racism”.

There is victim upon victim upon victim.

These victims have names. We must not forget their names.

The first time a black man was killed when his last words were “I can’t breathe” was in 2014, with Eric Garner. His mother did interviews this week. Imagine what she’s going through, because George Floyd died on video also saying, “I can’t breathe”, and the people who were stopping him from breathing, his killers, are the police. In the case of Eric Garner, the policemen were fired but never charged. In George Floyd’s murder, at least one killer has been charged, but it doesn’t do anything to ease the pain, nor, as my friend from the NDP said, does it quench the thirst for justice, because that’s what people are crying out for. They’re crying out for justice.

The names just keep cascading. I had to look it up because I thought, when was it that the poor young man who was jogging was murdered by the father and son in the pickup truck? He was murdered by a retired policeman and his son in their pickup truck, in February. Breonna Taylor of Louisville was murdered in her own home by cops who thought she might have drugs there. They searched, and she didn’t.

What on earth allows this to keep happening over and over again?

I looked at a site called “Just Security” and I thought these words from reporter Mia Bloom, who happens to be Canadian, were pretty clear on what puts you at risk of death in the United States of America, but also in Canada: “driving while black, jogging while black, reporting while black, bird watching while black, selling lemonade while black” can get you killed.
The killers far too often are wearing a uniform. I want to go back to the words “reporting while black”, because this is something else we’ve seen in the last four days that we’ve never seen before, which is the deliberate targeting of reporters by police. Over 100 reporters have been injured in the United States in the last four days. One woman lost her eye. These are serious injuries. Sometimes reporters get in the way of riots and whatnot, but this is different. This is another element altogether.

It seems that, in this place, when we have speeches and pretty words to denounce racism, we do it in a kind of cycle. After Colten Boushie’s murder, we talked about anti-indigenous racism. We talked about the threat to our indigenous brothers and sisters across this country who also face racism on a daily basis. We talked about the fact that they are disproportionately in our prisons.

Just within the last day, the report came down on the killing of Dale Culver in Prince George at the hands of the Prince George RCMP. This indigenous young man was 35 years old, and he was pepper-sprayed until he couldn’t breathe. There will be charges in this case. That’s the recommendation that just came down.

We go through sequential moments where we can say Islamophobia is not okay. Six Muslims at prayer in Quebec City were murdered. We can all stand up and say we denounce Islamophobia. Or we can denounce anti-trans violence against individual trans people who are murdered.

We denounce anti-Semitism when we see anti-Semitic graffiti scrawled on the door of an Ottawa rabbi’s home. We denounce it, but can we get to the root of it?
As the honourable leader of the Conservative Party mentioned, in recent days we’re seeing anti-Asian racism on the increase.

We’re seeing all this happen and we want to be good allies. We want to be a good ally to the family of Regis Korchinski-Paquet. We want to be a good ally.

I am a woman of privilege. I got it by mere random accident of birth. I was born to white parents. Privilege is being white.

We have to study our privilege. We have to acknowledge our privilege and we have to know, as the Prime Minister said, we’re not perfect, but it doesn’t give us a free pass to ignore that we have to stand up and we have to speak out.

I am sitting so close to my friend here, our minister, Ahmed Hussen—I say your name out loud, but your tweets brought me to tears—that this fine man faces racism in his own riding, that his three beautiful black boys have people turn away or clutch their purse or they’re a little worried when the kids are around. It sounds exactly like what the Prime Minister just called the “microaggressions” that many of us might not even see.

We can look at our own conduct and our own behaviour. In looking at these things, there is something I want to say, when we look at all these things that are happening and we wonder, what we can do about it. When we see a bully, when we hear hate speech, we have to speak up. We have to speak out and we have to say that the President of the United States is fomenting hatred and violence and it’s shameful and shocking that he would grab a Bible, then use tear gas to clear peaceful protestors on a Washington street so that Donald Trump could pose with a Bible in front of an Episcopal church.

The Episcopal Bishop of Washington had this to say, because she is a good ally:
In no way do we support the President’s incendiary response to a wounded, grieving nation. In faithfulness to our Saviour who lived a life of non-violence and sacrificial love, we align ourselves with those seeking justice for the death of George Floyd.

That’s what we must do in this place. We must acknowledge and speak up for justice for the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, the report on which languishes a year later.
We must stand up for justice and we must examine something very worrying. In 2006, the U.S. FBI warned that white supremacist groups were targeting police forces and joining them. If we’re looking for real action, things we can do in this place, I call on us to have an inquiry and an examination to root out white supremacist groups in Canada and identify them for what they are, a terrorist threat in our midst. We must make sure they’re not in our police forces, because if there is one thing scarier than a white supremacist with a gun, it’s a white supremacist with a gun in uniform.

Please, God, there are things we can do. Please, God, we love each other, take care of each other regardless of the colour of our skin, and pray for the United States of America. It’s a country being ripped apart, and the ripping and the tearing is being done by people who should at this very time be consoling and leading and inspiring.

Pray. Pray for Canada. Pray for each and every one of our beautiful black baby girls and boys, the indigenous baby girls and boys, the Asian kids. Wherever you look, reach out and be a good ally. Stand up and say, “With my body I get between you and the cops.” We have to be good allies. Right now, they’re just pretty words.

Thank you for listening.

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OTTAWA – The Green Party of Canada calls on the federal government to open a national inquiry into whether white supremacist and far-right groups have infiltrated Canadian law enforcement agencies.

“Events in the United States have highlighted that police brutality against black people, other racial minorities and even journalists is far too frequent and wholly unacceptable,” said Green parliamentary leader Elizabeth May (MP, Saanich-Gulf Islands). “That violence has been exacerbated by rhetoric from Donald Trump that has, since 2016, emboldened white supremacists. His recent comments have increased the risk of violence.

“With Prime Minister Trudeau accepting the hard reality that racism persists in Canada, it is essential that we hold a full inquiry to determine to what extent white supremacist organizations are infiltrating our own law enforcement agencies and the Canadian Armed Forces.

“In 2006, the FBI warned that white supremacist groups were urging members to become police officers to blend in and covertly advance their racist cause,” said Ms. May. “That 2006 warning from the FBI appears to have been ignored. We cannot afford to ignore the threat. If indeed, white supremacists are joining the police forces and the military it would explain why we are seeing more acts of violence and killings of black men and women perpetrated by law enforcement officers, few of whom face charges. Indigenous people in Canada are also disproportionately experiencing violence, and even death, at the hands of law enforcement.

“CSIS has confirmed that there are white supremacist groups in Canada. We need to recognize them for the terrorists that they are. If there is one thing worse than a white supremacist with a gun, it’s a white supremacist with a gun and in uniform.”

In 2019, the Liberal government added two international neo-Nazi groups to Canada’s list of outlawed terrorist organizations as part of a series of new measures to combat online hate. A 2019 study conducted by Universite de Montreal criminologist Massimiliano Mulone, Universite du Quebec, Montreal sociologist Victor Armory and Mariam Hassaoui, a sociologist from Universite TELUQ, found “systemic bias” by Montreal police, but stopped short of saying that officers were engaged in racial profiling.

Green caucus justice critic Jenica Atwin, (MP, Fredericton) said: “It’s terrifying to think of police entities harbouring white supremacists, especially knowing what we know about over representation of black and Indigenous people in the prison system, and how many die during police interventions.

“Hate must be weeded out. We need systemic restructuring to vet for white supremacy, along with misogyny and xenophobia. And these attitudes must be denounced by all leaders including the President of the United States.”

“There’s no reason to think that Canadian law enforcement agencies, or armed forces personnel, are immune to infiltration,” said Green Party Interim Leader Jo-Ann Roberts.”Earlier this year we learned that former Canadian Forces engineer Patrik Matthews had been arrested by the FBI on firearms charges and was accused of being a member of a violent neo-Nazi group. A full inquiry would be a proactive step to ensure this is not happening here, and at the same time, help to provide Canadians in racialized communities with more confidence in our law enforcement agencies.”

# # #

For more information or to arrange an interview:

Contact:

Rosie Emery

Press Secretary

613-562-4916 ext, 204

rosie.emery@greenparty.ca

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The committee had been studying the abuse of older women, and hearing from witnesses on this issue, before it resumed its study on violence against aboriginal women.

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I want to begin my brief remarks by paying tribute to one extraordinarily brave Canadian woman, Maureen Basnicki, whose great courage and perseverance in the face of losing her husband, Ken, in the disaster of 9/11 inspires us all.

I had a chance to talk to Maureen in the justice committee hearings. This was during the time we were transfixed by a government motion to end debate and push the whole bill through that day. She was disheartened, as an individual Canadian, that so much in the bill was caught up in an omnibus bill. As much as I support the efforts to allow Canadians, such as Maureen, who ever experienced the tragedy of personal loss to an act of terrorism overseas, and as much as it is quite right and appropriate, Canadians should be able to seek civil remedies overseas.

There is much in the bill that changes the characteristics of Canada and the values of Canadians in ways that do not reflect the kind of country we are. In fact, one of the trite things said after 9/11 was that if we abandoned civil liberties, if we changed what we were as a country, we had let the terrorists win.

To throw people in jail on mandatory minimums without the discretion of a judge who sees the person before him or her, without the opportunity of the criminal justice system to work toward restorative justice, without the opportunities that a compassionate justice system has to figure out if the person deserves jail time, or needs mental health facility where he or she can get the help needed, or is a victim of systemic racism or is someone for whom only criminal justice will work, needs revision. Putting forward my first amendment, which relates to the victims of terrorism act, is an important improvement in Canadian law and I support it. The amendment I have added today, should it be passed, will only expand the ambit of those Canadians who have been damaged by acts that fall well below the rule of law.

My amendment would add to the definition of terrorism that we would also recognize an act of torture to be something for which Canadians could seek redress overseas. It would apply to the case of someone like Mahar Arar. He was taken, in violation of all that is decent and in violation of all rule of law, not in recognition of his Canadian citizenship at all, and subjected to torture. He too would have redress to these civil remedies.

Since I have the opportunity to speak to the bill, as the hon. member from the official opposition has done, let me also speak to the broader problem. In the view of every criminologist, expert, academic who appeared before the justice committee and who commented on this through the media and in learned articles and so on, no one who has an experience of mandatory minimums believes they work. They do not believe they will reduce crime. They believe they will drive up the cost of our system and impose on the provinces. As has been so well pointed out by the provincial justice minister for the province of Quebec, there could be untold billions of dollars in the cost of new prisons.

We already have overcrowded prisons. To crowd them further will impose other problems. The state of California needed a court order to release prisoners because the overcrowding constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of its bill of rights. We do not want that situation in Canada.

I want to raise a very specific point that did not come up in committee. I believe it is very important for all Canadians to recognize that every member of the House of Commons favours law-abiding citizens. Every member of the House of Commons wants to do better than the bill does in supporting victims of crime.

However, the legislation will not deliver safer streets. I cannot say that forcefully enough. One of the aspects of this, which I do not think has received adequate attention, comes from the experience in the United States, when the Americans removed judicial discretion with mandatory minimums and gave power in the hands of prosecutors to exact plea bargains.

Plea bargains have become far and away more common than criminal trials, which means that presumption of innocence goes out the window. There is generally a sense that if one insists on one’s innocence and goes to trial, one will be punished down the road with a mandatory minimum. That is how prosecutors exact plea bargains. They say that if people go to trial, they will increase the offence. If they are found guilty, they will go to jail for 20 years instead of 2 years.

I will quote an article from the New York Times, on September 25, 2011, titled “Sentencing Shift Gives New Leverage to Prosecutors”, and a legal scholar, who was a former conservative federal judge and prosecutor and now law professor. I want to emphasize this and I hope members of Parliament will reconsider it and give weight to this last moment we have at report stage to fix this bill and get rid of mandatory minimums.

This is what former judge Paul Cassell said:

Judges have lost discretion, and that discretion has accumulated in the hands of prosecutors, who now have the ultimate ability to shape the outcome. With mandatory minimums and other sentencing enhancements out there, prosecutors can often dictate the sentence that will be imposed.

The story goes on to say:

Without question, plea bargains benefit many defendants who have committed crimes and receive lighter sentences than they might after trial.

In other words, taking discretion away from judges does not guarantee, as those on the government benches so desire to see, that people who are guilty of crimes will be put behind bars. They may get the perverse result that I am sure they do not want, that mandatory minimums drive us to a completely new system in which prosecutors have the ability to plea bargain. In that process, people who would have been found guilty before a judge and jury, and be subjected to a harsher sentence, would get a lighter sentence.

Yes, we will overcrowd our jails. Without the safety valve provisions in the amendments that we will be reviewing today, without an ability to say “mandatory minimums should not apply here”, without that, we will be crowding our jails.

We know as of now we are not putting sufficient resources into programs for mental health or to help people with addictions. We know that so many of the problems that occur in crimes on the streets have to do with systemic problems of poverty, lack of access to mental health resources, treatment and care and addiction. If we are not dealing with those, we are merely throwing people from the streets, where there are problems, into jails. Jails are not a solution to mental health problems. Jails are no solution to the absence of affordable housing.

This is not legislation that will work for Canadians. It will not make safer streets; it will make meaner streets. This is not a bill that deals with Canadian values. This speaks to some other country that I do not know. I do not want to live in a country that thinks it is better to impose stark mandatory minimums rather than have a criminal justice system rooted in the rule of law that recognizes the primacy of the value that goes back to the times of common law, before the existence of our great country of Canada. We recognize the presumption of innocence. We must not lose that.

We must not live in a country where a member of a governing cabinet can look across the floor of the House and accuse an opposition member, as if it were a crime, to have worked as a lawyer for the defence. The defence of people accused of crime is essential in a criminal justice system. As we know from Donald Marshall Jr. and the Milgaard case, innocent people get accused of crimes. Those people who defend them in court are an essential part of the fabric of a civilized society that understands the rule of law.

I do not think I have ever been so deeply shocked by anything I have heard in the House of Commons as an accusation that the hon. member, who now stands as the official opposition House leader, was somehow a bad person because before entering politics, while practising law, he defended people accused of crimes. We should remember that when someone is accused of a crime we do not say a person is “defending criminals”. The presumption of innocence is an essential part of the fabric of a civilized society. I fear we are losing that.

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