Bill C-75 (Historical)

An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Youth Criminal Justice Act and other Acts and to make consequential amendments to other Acts

This enactment amends the Criminal Code to, among other things,
(a) modernize and clarify interim release provisions to simplify the forms of release that may be imposed on an accused, incorporate a principle of restraint and require that particular attention be given to the circumstances of Aboriginal accused and accused from vulnerable populations when making interim release decisions, and provide more onerous interim release requirements for offences involving violence against an intimate partner;
(b) provide for a judicial referral hearing to deal with administration of justice offences involving a failure to comply with conditions of release or failure to appear as required;
(c) abolish peremptory challenges of jurors, modify the process of challenging a juror for cause so that a judge makes the determination of whether a ground of challenge is true, and allow a judge to direct that a juror stand by for reasons of maintaining public confidence in the administration of justice;
(d) increase the maximum term of imprisonment for repeat offences involving intimate partner violence and provide that abuse of an intimate partner is an aggravating factor on sentencing;
(e) restrict the availability of a preliminary inquiry to offences punishable by imprisonment for a term of 14 years or more and strengthen the justice’s powers to limit the issues explored and witnesses to be heard at the inquiry;
(f) hybridize most indictable offences punishable by a maximum penalty of 10 years or less, increase the default maximum penalty to two years less a day of imprisonment for summary conviction offences and extend the limitation period for summary conviction offences to 12 months;
(g) remove the requirement for judicial endorsement for the execution of certain out-of-province warrants and authorizations, expand judicial case management powers, allow receiving routine police evidence in writing, consolidate provisions relating to the powers of the Attorney General and allow increased use of technology to facilitate remote attendance by any person in a proceeding;
(h) re-enact the victim surcharge regime and provide the court with the discretion to waive a victim surcharge if the court is satisfied that the victim surcharge would cause the offender undue hardship or would be disproportionate to the gravity of the offence or the degree of responsibility of the offender; and
(i) remove passages and repeal provisions that have been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada, repeal section 159 of the Act and provide that no person shall be convicted of any historical offence of a sexual nature unless the act that constitutes the offence would constitute an offence under the Criminal Code if it were committed on the day on which the charge was laid.
The enactment also amends the Youth Criminal Justice Act in order to reduce delays within the youth criminal justice system and enhance the effectiveness of that system with respect to administration of justice offences. For those purposes, the enactment amends that Act to, among other things,
(a) set out principles intended to encourage the use of extrajudicial measures and judicial reviews as alternatives to the laying of charges for administration of justice offences;
(b) set out requirements for imposing conditions on a young person’s release order or as part of a sentence;
(c) limit the circumstances in which a custodial sentence may be imposed for an administration of justice offence;
(d) remove the requirement for the Attorney General to determine whether to seek an adult sentence in certain circumstances; and
(e) remove the power of a youth justice court to make an order to lift the ban on publication in the case of a young person who receives a youth sentence for a violent offence, as well as the requirement to determine whether to make such an order.
Finally, the enactment amends among other Acts An Act to amend the Criminal Code (exploitation and trafficking in persons) so that certain sections of that Act can come into force on different days and also makes consequential amendments to other Acts.

Public Safety

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Attorney General stated that the Liberals will bring forward multiple changes to their catch-and-release laws in the fall, effectively admitting that Bill C-75 is a failure, yet the same day, the secretary of state for combatting crime blamed the provinces for releasing violent repeat offenders.

Two years ago, my own daughter watched as her boyfriend, Johnny, was murdered in Victoria, stabbed to death by a violent repeat offender who was out on bail for attempted murder not three weeks earlier.

When will the Liberals protect Canadians like Johnny, actually take action and cancel failed Bill C-75?

[Grant Jackson, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, violent crime continues to spiral out of control under the Liberals, devastating our families and communities.

In Brandon earlier this year, a 67-year-old man was beaten over the head with a baseball bat by a repeat offender out on bail, completely unprovoked. Weeks later, a woman was assaulted in an elevator by an individual out on bail facing similar previous charges. These are just two examples of far too many violent assaults by repeat offenders released to wander our streets.

When are the Liberals going to get serious, reject their soft-on-crime agenda, repeal Bill C-5 and Bill C-75, and put these criminals in jail, not out on bail?

Strong Borders Act

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to give my first full speech here in this hallowed hall. It is amazing to be back. Some will likely remember that I was a Conservative member of Parliament from 2015 to 2021. With this being my first full speech since coming back, I would like to quickly thank a few people who directly helped me, especially the people of Edmonton Griesbach.

Politics truly is a team sport, and I am humbled and grateful to each and every person who helped on this amazing journey to defeat the NDP and turn Edmonton Griesbach Tory blue once again. I have always hated the colour orange, anyway. I do not think I have any of it in my wardrobe.

There were hundreds who played a part in the win. That included 1,200 people who bought Conservative Party memberships from me and my team. The nomination campaign itself took a ton of work and dedication. My team and I knocked on thousands of doors and made thousands of calls, weekdays and weekends, for a year and a half. I thank my team members for that. I am also grateful for my Conservative MP colleagues, some of whom are in this very room, who helped out on this campaign and helped us win the main campaign.

Of course, thanks goes to my wife Clare Denman, who has always worked right at my side on all campaigns. Most of all, I am grateful to all the voters of Edmonton Griesbach, who once again chose me to represent them in Ottawa. I can promise that I will always represent them to the best of my ability, regardless of who they voted for. They can reach out to me and my office anytime they need assistance. We are at their service.

There is nothing I like better than knocking on doors in politics. That gives a person the very best feedback possible about what issues are most important to people, and sometimes we get it in very colourful language. In this latest campaign, I heard loud and clear that people were eager for change. They were worried about this country. The biggest fear I heard at the doors is about the rapid rise in crime over the last Liberal decade. This crime threatens all Canadians, but let us talk about the crime facing just the city of Edmonton.

Here are a few of the headlines from a search I did on Google in just the last two months. I searched for “crime in Edmonton” and got these troubling headlines from news stories: “Killing of woman, 27, the latest in cluster of Edmonton homicide files”; “Police investigate homicide of woman fatally stabbed in central Edmonton”; “Police looking for information about shooting in southeast Edmonton”; “Two males- a 14-year-old and a 17-year-old were injured”; “Edmonton man guilty of torching homes in Alberta Avenue area; court heard fires were set at behest of notorious slain landlord”.

I found more headlines: “Death of man found unconscious in northeast Edmonton considered homicide”; “Four men charged in connection to 2020 homicide in south Edmonton”; “Edmonton youth, 15, arrested for terrorism-related offence for alleged ties to 764 online network”. I found even more headlines: “Suspect wanted in connection to 2022 nightclub killing also charged in fatal 2020 shooting”; “Second-degree murder conviction in shooting that left victim dying outside Edmonton homeless shelter for 27 hours”; “Woman facing murder charges after two others stabbed in central Edmonton”; “Two men charged with first-degree murder after fatal Edmonton shooting”.

That is quite a lot of shocking headlines. The concern about crime is something I heard time and time again at the doors during the last election campaign. I asked folks, “Don't you think the primary responsibly of a government is to make sure its citizens are safe, that they can walk around in their communities day and night safely?” Folks heartily agreed with that, but the Liberals across the floor have done nothing to truly protect us. Their soft-on-crime, turn-the-other-cheek attitude is a hopeless failure. They continue to defend Trudeau's Bill C-5 and Bill C-75, despite the fact that those bills have unleashed a crime wave. That is evident from the headlines I just read. If people want to see the result, they just need to go to downtown Edmonton and look around, or check out the challenges we are seeing in Edmonton's Chinatown.

Rampant, open drug use and social disorder are literally killing mom-and-pop businesses. People can ride the city's light rail transit at night, if they dare. I was at a community event in our riding of Edmonton Griesbach just the other weekend. I asked people to raise their hand if they feel safe walking in their community alone at night and to raise their hand if they feel safe riding transit alone. In the whole audience, nobody put up their hand, that I could see, except two Edmonton city councillors and a lone NDP MLA. People deserve better. They deserve to be safe in their communities.

We Conservatives will continue to push Liberals to stop coddling criminals and to push for jail, not bail, for violent repeat offenders, as well as stand up for the rights of victims, not criminals. Despite all of this evidence of the crime wave facing Canadians, the Liberal government is still avoiding the key causes of it. The catch-and-release bail system is a big problem. Instead of addressing that, the Liberal government is going after people's civil liberties.

Bill C-2 would give the government the power to search people's mail, on a whim. This does not help catch criminals. This bill is referred to as the strong borders act, but there is poison aplenty in it. It would make a host of changes the government did not run on in the last election campaign, such as those dealing with immigration. There are so many problems that I do not even have time to address them all. The Liberals will probably respond to my speech claiming that Conservatives do not care about strong border protection because we dare to criticize their beloved bill, but it is their government that oversaw a 632% increase in U.S. Border Patrol encounters of people illegally attempting to enter the United States from Canada. This bill would not make Canadians safer. Breaching our civil liberties by searching our mail for fentanyl is not the solution. If the Liberals really wanted fentanyl off the streets, why would they not punish the criminals supplying it? If they really cared about safety, why would then not bring in mandatory prison sentences for fentanyl traffickers?

We are once again in a crisis created by the Liberal government, which seems clueless on how to fix its own mistakes. Voters nationwide wanted change from the 10 years of Liberal failures led by Justin Trudeau. Eight million people voted for our Conservative candidates, but in the end, the Liberals won a minority government. Voters were told that this election really was not a fourth term for Justin Trudeau's Liberals, but just because they say that something is not true, does not make it so. My dad used to always warn me about people who over-promise and under-deliver. He would say, “Son, mark my words, be careful of carnies who make big promises.” He was talking about circus carnies. He always warned me not to get fooled by hucksters at carnivals.

The Liberals need to deliver on their election promises. I promise that Conservatives will keep pushing them to do so.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Speaker, it is indeed an honour to rise in this place, thanks to the support of the great people of Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, many of whom I have been hearing from on Bill C-2.

I will be splitting my time with the member for Edmonton Griesbach.

Conservatives have always supported toughening up our borders, and making sure that we are not just securing our borders, but protecting communities and upholding the rights of Canadians. In the last election campaign, we fought very hard, laying out a message on how to make sure we secure our borders, and that would include adding more border agents. We need at least a couple of thousand more border agents to properly police the border, and not just at ports of entry, which is all Bill C-2 would do. We want to make sure that they have the power to police the entire border, whether we are looking at illegal immigration, people who are trying to run fentanyl and other illicit drugs into our country or human trafficking. We often see illegal guns coming across the border. Of course, the bill before us does not address this in its entirety, and that is why I have some concerns.

We need to make sure that our borders are secure. In the campaign, our leader, Pierre Poilievre, talked about installing greater border surveillance, including the use of drones and towers, and more high-powered scanners at land crossings and seaports to ensure that everything that is coming into this country is looked at. This way, we would know whether there is contraband being smuggled into this country, especially the ingredients to make fentanyl and other opioids, which are creating so much tragedy in our communities and on our streets. This is really a sad part that is impacting so many families. We also need to make sure that we are scanning things leaving this country as well, but nothing in the bill addresses that. The illegal export of stolen vehicles has to stop, which means containers need to be scanned, both coming in and going out, but, again, there is nothing on that in the bill.

We are concerned that Bill C-2 does not address the issue of tracking the departures of those who are in Canada and need to leave. If they fail to meet their dates, then we are going to see that they are staying Canada illegally, and they need to be deported immediately.

The bill would do nothing to toughen up penalties for repeat violent offenders. We are talking about stopping human trafficking, gun smuggling and fentanyl as the main reasons to thicken up our borders and secure them. However, the Liberals continue to support soft-on-crime policies, like making sure that repeat violent offenders have access to catch-and-release bail policies. We believe in jail, not bail, and the Liberals continue to have their multiple murder discounts on sentencing.

This is a big bill, over 130 pages, and that in itself makes it an omnibus bill. We know that Liberals have been scrambling since the election to finally take some Conservative policies and put them in their own policies. We will continue to support things that make Canada safer and more secure, but we do have a lot of concerns about how the Liberals continue to have catch-and-release bills, like Bill C-75, and in the last Parliament, Bill C-5. We want to go after gun smugglers, but the Liberals still erroneously vilify law-abiding firearms owners in this country instead of going after the criminals who are smuggling guns and increasing the penalties for gun smugglers, which they actually reduced in Bill C-5. We want to make sure that we are actually addressing that issue.

Another issue with the bill that I am hearing about is the concern we just heard in the previous question, which is that Canada Post would be given the ability to open mail without the proper charter-protected rights that would happen with judicial oversight and warrants. This is clear in the bill, as we were just talking about, in section 41 on page 12, “The Corporation may open any mail if it has reasonable grounds to suspect that...”, and then it lists those reasons, which include drug smuggling. That should be done under the authority of a warrant; Canada Post cannot just start opening up mail.

I am hearing from my constituents that they are concerned about part 11, which would limit the amount of cash deposits to $10,000. That impacts those in the agriculture community who want to use cash because they have curbside sales or farmers markets where maybe they are selling livestock or processed meats, vegetables or other types of horticultural crops out of their yards and collecting cash from that. A strawberry U-pick will collect over $10,000 cash easily in a day. Cash is still legal tender. There are ways we can still enforce the money laundering and terrorist financing rules in this country without going after people legitimately collecting cash in their day-to-day business activities. That was about part 4 on Canada Post and part 11 on farm gate sales.

I want to spend a little bit of time on other parts of this bill. In part 14 and part 16, the bill talks about the erosion of privacy rights and civil liberties of Canadians, which I have been hearing about from my constituents. They have been emailing and messaging me on social media. We need to address that.

In my last four minutes, I want to talk about part 5. Part 5 would amend the Oceans Act to provide coast guard services. It would include activities related to security and authorize the responsible minister to collect, analyze and disclose information and intelligence. It provides the power for “The Minister, or any other member of the King’s Privy Council for Canada designated by the Governor in Council for the purposes of this section”. This is where we are hearing about the transfer of the Canadian Coast Guard from Fisheries and Oceans Canada to the administrative powers of the Minister of National Defence. That was announced by the Prime Minister and the Minister of National Defence has talked about it. We have heard from the chief of the defence staff and the vice chief of the defence staff on what that is going to look like.

We know that the Canadian Coast Guard does not have interdiction capabilities. It is not a paramilitary organization; it is a civilian organization. It does not have guns on board. The ships have no defensive purposes at all. We must remember that the Coast Guard does search and rescue. It has a lot of scientific vessels that spend time studying our oceans. That is important and has to happen. It provides transit and transportation assistance by icebreaking in places like the St. Lawrence Seaway. That is all important work that the Coast Guard does. However, it is hard to make the argument that that is in the interest of national security or national defence.

This is just another exercise by the Liberals in creative accounting to move government spending from one department into National Defence without actually increasing the capabilities of the Canadian Armed Forces. They are not talking about changing the Coast Guard fleet to have them armed up. They are not talking about having the sailors and crew of the Canadian Coast Guard actually be trained up to use sidearms.

We know right now that if the Coast Guard comes across somebody smuggling contraband, such as illegal drugs, they have to call the RCMP to come on board to then do the interdiction of those vessels. It is the same thing if the Coast Guard were to see somebody illegally fishing. They would have to call conservation officers with Fisheries and Oceans to come on board to do the interdiction. They would also, if they come across somebody who entered our waters illegally, either because they are smuggling humans or they got lost, call Canada Border Services to come in to process those individuals and do the interdiction.

The Coast Guard has absolutely no policing powers or ability to do those interdictions on their own, and it is erroneous to think that the Coast Guard provides any type of security purposes underneath the NATO construct. I would just caution the government that if it is going to try to count all of the Coast Guard's budget under National Defence, then it has to change the organization so that it can provide those broader services that have been talked about. The bill talks about how the Coast Guard is going to “support departments, boards and agencies of the Government of Canada through the provision of ships, aircraft and other services; and" “security, including security patrols and the collection, analysis and disclosure of information or intelligence”.

The Coast Guard does not have that skill set right now. It does not have that ability. The government needs to come clean with Canadians. It needs to come clean with NATO and our allies to explain how it can take a civilian organization and decide this is something that really will improve our national security and our national defence, and will actually increase the lethality and kinetic power of the Canadian Armed Forces, which we know right now, after the last Liberal decade, have been broken by the Liberals.

Justice

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to present a petition on behalf of my constituents, who are alarmed about the increase in repeat violent offenders being released on bail.

. The petitioners have witnessed a sharp increase in car theft, gang violence and drug-related deaths. Violent crime has increased by 50%; violent gun crime has surged by 116%, and in 2022, 256 Canadians were tragically killed by people out on bail thanks to Liberal catch-and-release policies under Bill C-75. Police officers are increasingly powerless to protect the public.

The petitioners are calling on the Minister of Justice to urgently reform Canada's bail laws and restore safety on our streets.

Gender-Based Violence

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, facts are stubborn things. Under the Liberals, violence against women has continued to rise.

By maintaining Bill C‑5 and Bill C‑75, which were passed by Justin Trudeau, this government is protecting criminals rather than victims. That is a well-known fact. Meanwhile, women are living in fear. The government needs to take a good hard look in the mirror and admit that it is responsible for the problem.

When will the Prime Minister take action and change these laws to keep all women in Canada safe?

Finance

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said that he was the man with a plan. A budget is a plan, and now he is shooting blanks. After being Trudeau's economic adviser for the past five years, he is worse than the old guy when it comes to accountability and transparency.

As the Liberals hide, Canadians are worried about how much more debt, inflation and taxes are going to be dumped on them, since this guy says he is going to spend even more than Justin Trudeau did.

A spring budget could tell Canadians what the plan is to lower the cost of government, which would lower the cost of living. It could show a plan to actually get homes built, not more bureaucracy.

A spring budget could show Canadians a plan to gain economic independence from the U.S. by scrapping anti-energy laws like Bill C–69, Bill C–48 and the job-killing oil and gas cap. It could have a plan in it to bring home safer streets by repealing hug-a-thug laws like Bill C–75 and Bill C–5, and finally get immigration under control.

If the Prime Minister is the guy who says he is the man with a plan, he needs to prove it and bring home a spring budget now.

Justice

[Roman Baber, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after a decade of the Liberal government, crime in Toronto is out of control. Last night in North York, what began as an armed carjacking at the Shops of Don Mills turned into a police pursuit and a man jumping off the Gardiner Expressway.

The Liberals have turned Toronto into Grand Theft Auto, real-life edition. Liberal Bill C-5 and Bill C-75 let criminals out on bail instead of locking them up and keeping us safe.

When will the Liberals repeal their soft-on-bail regime and start protecting Canadians from violent criminals?

Public Safety

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Speaker, auto thefts are up 46%, and violent crime is up 50%. Just yesterday, York Region police arrested four suspects in a violent auto theft in Vaughan, where two of them were repeat offenders. This is a result of failed Liberal laws like Bill C-5 and Bill C-75.

Even the mayor of Vaughan and the chief of York Regional Police are calling for an end to catch-and-release madness. Would any Liberal who thinks this is acceptable kindly explain this to the residents of King—Vaughan?

[Amarjeet Gill, Conservative, Brampton West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, under the Liberal government, crime is at its peak and cities like Brampton are being hit hard. Peel police had the single largest drug bust in its history, but six out of nine drug dealers were out on bail.

Gun crime is up 116%. Gang homicide is up 78%. The only solution to control the crime wave is to repeal the soft-on-crime Liberal laws Bill C-5 and Bill C-75 and put repeat violent offenders in jail.

Will the Prime Minister reverse Liberal soft-on-crime laws so that drug dealers like these get jail, not bail?

[Michael Ma, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Peel Region had the single largest drug bust in its history yesterday, with 1,000 pounds of cocaine worth $47 million. This would be a cause for celebration if six out of the nine who were arrested were not already out on bail.

Liberal laws like Bill C-5 and Bill C-75 are the root cause of this madness. These Liberal laws put repeat criminals back into our communities.

Will the Liberals reverse their soft-on-crime policies to keep criminals behind bars?

[Jacob Mantle, Conservative, York—Durham, ON]

Madam Speaker, it has been ten years and no bail reform. Why? The Liberals think everything is okay. In Durham, they do not. In 2015, there were 68 cases of sexual assault. Last year, there were 128 cases. At the same time, offenders violating bail and other conditions were up 137%. That is not mere coincidence; that is cause and effect.

Will the minister please break this cycle of violence and repeal the “get out of jail free” laws, Bill C-5 and Bill C-75?

[Jacob Mantle, Conservative, York—Durham, ON]

Madam Speaker, Liberal experiments in leniency have led to lawlessness on our streets. Ontario court data shows that major assaults have increased 70% since 2015, from 13,000 cases to over 23,000 cases. That is not just a failure of so-called social justice policy; it is a failure of moral responsibility by the government.

Will the Prime Minister put victims ahead of violent offenders and cancel his “get out of jail free” laws, Bill C-5 and Bill C-75?

Main Estimates, 2025-26

[Michael Ma, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Chair, can the minister then tell us when the repeal of Bill C-75 be made?

[Michael Ma, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Chair, when will Bill C-75 be repealed?