Gord Brown’s knife Bill sent to committee

July 01, 2008

The House of Commons voted on Wednesday, June 4 to send Leeds-Grenville Member of Parliament Gord Brown’s Private Member’s Bill C-393, also known as the knife bill, to committee for study.

It is the next step in moving the Bill forward.

In a 140-116 vote the Bill passed Second Reading and into Committee.

“I am pleased that other Members support this move to get tough on crime,” says Brown.

“Thousands of ordinary Canadians support this Bill as do chiefs of police and victims of crime organizations.”

When a Bill goes to Committee, the Committee has an opportunity to study it and amend it before it Reports back to the House with a recommendation to proceed or not. It has 60 Sitting days to report and can seek a further 30 Sitting days.

C-393 was first introduced by Mr. Brown when he was elected in 2004. He re-introduced the Bill when he was re-elected in 2006.
The Bill, if passed will:

• Create a mandatory minimum sentence for carrying a criminally concealed weapon, including a knife, with an escalating sentence for repeat offences.
• Require such sentences to be served consecutively to other crimes committed at the same time or while on parole and require the convicted offender to serve one half of the sentence (instead of the current one third) before being eligible for parole.
• Create a minimum mandatory sentence for manslaughter arising from the use of a knife equivalent to the current requirement for deaths caused by firearms.
• End the current practice of rewarding persons denied bail because of past criminality or breaching bail extra pre trial custody “credit” (currently two or three times time served) at time of sentencing.
• Authorize the National Parole Board to provide victims with information pertaining to offender conduct while in custody relevant to their safety should parole be granted.
• Provide the National Parole Board with authority to prevent offender abuse of scheduling and adjournment of parole hearings done to frustrate victim participation as authorized by Parliament.
  

“I am extremely pleased that this Bill is moving forward,” says Mr. Brown. “I am especially pleased for victims’ families like the Moffitts in Brockville, who are feeling more hopeful.

“I was elected in part by the people of Leeds-and Grenville to work to ensure our justice system is responsive to victims of crime, not just criminals. Today’s vote is also a vote for my constituents,” he says.

The Bill was created in response to the killing of Andy Moffitt of Brockville who was stabbed to death while trying to break up a fight in Ottawa just before Christmas, 1998.

In his speeches during Second Reading Debate on the Bill, which took place in April and May, Mr. Brown pointed out that while he used the facts of Andy’s case to illustrate the points, what his family faced in dealing with his killing is by no means unique in Canada.

“Hundreds of families across Canada face the issues addressed by this Bill every year,” says Brown.

Following are Mr. Brown’s closing remarks from the first hour of Second Reading Debate:

“In summary Mr. Speaker, Bill C-393 is a tightly focused Bill that addresses three specific areas where our justice system needs to, and can, work better.

“Its sentencing provisions are not aimed at simply imposing harsh treatment on offenders. It is designed to prevent such crimes and to prevent the loss of life.

“Its bail provisions are not meant to undermine the proper discretion of the judiciary but to reinforce the existing rule of law and not reward past criminal misconduct.

“Its corrections provisions are simply an expression that having properly created a process of victim participation, we must ensure that is a properly informed one, where the Parole Board has the power to prevent it being used to further traumatize victims.

“Mr. Speaker, I am asking for the support of Members of this House so that this Bill and the improvements it will bring can go forward.

“While members opposite may turn this into a partisan issue, that type of debate does not belong here.

“When Andy Moffitt stood up from his seat and took action to prevent an attack that night nine years ago, he didn’t do so thinking of his actions as being heroic.

He did so because something inside him said it was the right thing to do.

“Today, in our unique responsibilities as the elected representatives of the people of Canada we have the opportunity to stand and do the right thing, which is to support Bill C-393 for the people of Canada.”

You can read the full text of both hours of Second Reading Debate in Hansard at www.parl.gc.ca.