May 19, 1995 For Immediate Release
"JUSTICE COMMITTEE MUST UNITE CANADIANS IN FIGHT AGAINST VIOLENT CRIME
"Rock's bill has shaken the trust of the very people governments depend on to uphold the law."
Ottawa - Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, used his five minutes before the House of Commons Committee on Justice to ask them to show real leadership in this debate to re-unite all law-abiding citizens in our fight against the real enemy - violent criminals. "With Bill C-68, Allan Rock has shaken the trust of the very people governments depend on to uphold the law," commented Breitkreuz.
He told the Committee, "The Justice Minister trusted the lawyers in the Department of Justice to draft a fair and just law and they have drafted an unfair and an unjust law. He asked them to draft a law which will withstand Charter challenges and we have learned from the Canadian Bar Association and others that it will not. He asked his lawyers to draft a law which will not intrude into areas of provincial jurisdiction and respect aboriginal rights and they have left him open to constitutional challenges."
"The Justice Minister trusted his staff when he should have trusted his instincts. Why would the Justice Minister risk his own credibility in the legal community by advancing such a poorly drafted piece of legislation which will be struck down in the courts?" asked Breitkreuz.
Breitkreuz made five key recommendations to the Committee including a "sunset clause" amendment which would automatically repeal any gun control provision which is not cost-effective in reducing violent crime or improving public safety.
Breitkreuz concluded his remarks saying, "The Justice Minister needs our help to fix this bill so we can all spend our time and money getting at the root causes of crime. I and other Reform MPs are willing to work with you and your government to make the Criminal Code really effective at combatting real crime - violent crime no matter what type of weapons criminals use. I believe the recommendations I propose give us all room to manoeuvre and still achieve the common goal we and all Canadians want: safer streets."
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