Speech to the House of Commons on Bill C-47

October 29, 2009

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be able to rise in this House today and speak about an issue that is of importance to the residents of my riding of Leeds-Grenville and to the many policing agencies that operate in my riding.

On their behalf, I am pleased to offer my support for this much-needed legislation which will give enforcement agencies the tools they need to fight the modern-day, sophisticated criminals and terrorists that can be operating anywhere in the world while reaching into our riding.

Let me first offer a little background on my riding.

Leeds-Grenville is an expansive riding stretching from the outskirts of Kingston, Ontario in the west to just past the bottom of Highway 416 in the east.

Kingston and area, I would like to point out, as I have in the past, is home to a number of federal prisons and provincial jails.

My riding stretches north along Highway 15 from Kingston to the Smiths Falls area and east again to North Grenville which lies just 20 minutes south of our capital city of Ottawa.

I have two major highways in the riding, Highway 401 and Highway 416.

The riding includes two border crossing and we are within minutes of a third at Kingston and a half hour away from a fourth at Cornwall.

We have several small airports in the riding and more nearby.

As well we have the St. Lawrence River and the United States on our doorstep. In some cases it is easy to wade across the narrow reaches to move from one country to another.

The 1000 Islands area of St. Lawrence River is one of the busiest recreational waterways in the world and one of the many complicated border crossing areas with tour boats, private pleasure craft, commercial boats and others crossing from shore to shore and island to island, at all times of the year.

With this broad picture in mind, you can imagine the enforcement agencies that are engaged in protecting the good citizens of the riding.

Border guards, RCMP, OPP, and local police departments along with prison guards and private security personnel are all actively engaged in and around the riding.

It is with this background that I am pleased to add my voice to those who support the provisions in Bill C-47.

It has been stated before that Canada’s current intercept laws are decades out of date.

Technology savvy criminals can go about their business – often reaching across borders and around the world – without being detected, apprehended or prosecuted.

And this poses a very real threat to Canadians.

I am pleased, and the residents of Leeds-Grenville are pleased, that our government intends to put a stop to this.
Bill C-47 will take away the advantages that criminals currently have under our laws.

They will no longer able to exploit new communications technologies to remain undetected. 

This Bill will give those who protect us the ability to intercept unlawful activity.

Police and national security officials will be able to shut-down so-called “safe havens” and bring criminals to account for their acts.

Mr. Speaker, in our life time we have seen a revolution in communication technology. And we can only guess at its pace in the future.

From typewriters and dial telephones hooked up with wires, we have reached a point where ordinary citizens use satellites and complex devices to communicate.

Legislation that was written to combat crimes in the typewriter and dial telephone days, just doesn’t measure up anymore.

This new Bill will help bring our crime-fighting capabilities up to at least today’s communications standards.

We will be able to protect our modern society with modern methods.

Mr. Speaker, as we move forward with modern up-to-date legislation, we are also telling those who would harm others that we will not allow them to work smarter than us.

We will be removing the communications shields that gang members, child predators, identity thieves and terrorists can currently hide behind.

This Bill approaches the complex problem of communications in a number of ways.

First, it requires communication providers to install interception capability.

Second, it permits enforcement agencies, under certain circumstances, to acquire intercepted communications.

I am aware that some people are concerned that individual privacy rights could be violated.

It is important to understand Mr Speaker, that since 1995 the government has engaged in consultation on this issue.

Written into the Bill are extensive oversight regulations and a recording regime that will ensure that the new law is not abused.

There are also exemptions for many types of agencies and businesses handling confidential information, such as financial institutions, charities, places of worship, hospitals, educational facilities and more.

Mr. Speaker, this Bill will help move Canada into the new Century.

I am pleased to support it.