Tackling Violent Crime
Innisfil Scope
March 3, 2008
by Peter Van Loan, MP, York-Simcoe
Last week, the Conservative Government’s
Tackling Violent Crime Bill finally became
law.
How we got it
there provides and interesting window into
the way that Parliament works.
Canadians told us they were concerned about
crime in our communities.
We committed to
take action in the 2006 election. After our election in
2006, we introduced a number of justice
bills. They included:
- Mandatory prison sentences for gun crimes;
- Tougher bail provisions;
- Tougher sentencing and management of sexual and
violent offenders;
- Protection of young persons from sexual
exploitation; and
- A tougher law on impaired driving.
Unfortunately, these Bills bogged down in
two places.
At
parliamentary committee the Liberals delayed
and obstructed the crime Bills for hundreds
of days.
The same delay
and obstruction took place in the Liberal
Senate.
As a
result – in our new Throne Speech last fall,
we combined the proposals into a single
Tackling Crime Bill, and declared it to be a
confidence matter.
Only by creating
a risk of an election, did it seem possible
to overcome the delay and obstruction
tactics of the Liberal Party.
On
November 28, 2007, we passed the Tackling
Violent Crime Bill in the House of Commons.
However, for
these new protective measures to become law,
and fully work to the advantage of you and
your family, we needed Senate review to pass
the bill as well.
The Liberal dominated Senate, however,
showed their true colours, refused to work
towards the good of the nation, and held the
Bill up for months.
We had the
support of the Canadian Crime Victim
Foundation, MADD Canada, and other criminal
justice advocates.
Although the House of Commons spoke clearly,
now that that Bill was at the Senate (out of
the eye of the media) the Liberal delay and
obstruction machine was back at work.
As
Government House Leader, I’m responsible for
getting our proposed laws passed.
Faced with this
Liberal obstruction at the Senate, I had to
find a new tactic.
In
the end, I proposed a Motion in the House of
Commons, asking that the Senate pass the
Tackling Violent Crime Bill by March 1, 2008
(giving the Senators twice as much time as
the House of Commons to look into the bill).
The outcome, if
the Senate refused to do so, would be an
“impasse” between the Senate and the House –
a basis for an election call.
On February 23, 2008, the
House of Commons passed the Motion.
Passing this motion was not Parliament’s
finest hour.
During the vote
in the House of Commons, every single
Liberal simply got up – and walked out!
I guess they
were just too afraid to vote against us,
since they are too afraid of an election
they risk losing, but they are also too
stubborn to support us.
Stéphane Dion called the Motion “juvenile.”
Liberal
Senators protested that we had no right to
pass a Motion of this type – however,
parliamentary and constitutional experts
like Ned Franks declared the Motion valid,
and “innovative.”
But what
mattered to me was the outcome.
On
February 27, 2008 the Senate passed the
Tackling Violent Crime Bill.
The Liberal
Senators did show their true preferences.
The vote was 19
to 16 in favour, with 31 abstentions.
There are only
22 Conservatives among the 91 current
Senators.
Almost all were
present to vote in favour of the Tackling
Violent Crime Bill.
Not a single
Liberal Senator voted in favour of the
Tackling Violent Crime Bill.
As
a result, we now have tough penalties for
violent crime, gun-toting gang members, and
sex offenders.
We have made
our streets and communities safer.
Having, as
Government House Leader, helped develop and
implement our strategy and tactics to get
the law in place, I was honoured that the
Prime Minister asked me to stand in for him
at the Royal Assent Ceremony, where the
Governor General made the Bill law.
We have
delivered change for the better!
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