February 6, 2014
Halifax, NS
(Check against delivery)
Thank you, Robyn [Elliot, President, CBA Nova Scotia Executive Committee], for that kind introduction.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
I am very pleased to be here among esteemed members of the bench and the bar, and not in a courtroom where many of us have spent countless hours debating the law.
It was a great honour for me to have the opportunity to address the CBA conference in Saskatoon in August and participate in my first “CBA Dialogue with the Minister.”
I hope that you have all been taking advantage of the Mid-Winter conference to meet and connect with your colleagues, and to develop and deepen your knowledge of the new legal trends that faces our professions.
It is also great to be back to where I started my own career—first as a defence lawyer in private practice, and then as a Nova Scotia Crown prosecutor.
It was during those years that my appreciation for Canada’s system of justice really grew—with its roots in democratic traditions and the rule of law. I believed then that it was among the best in the world and today, I still feel the same is true.
But, I wanted a larger role in shaping that system and I eventually took a different path to public service — embracing politics.
I am grateful to the Prime Minister for giving me the opportunity and the honour to effect change as Minister of Justice.
And now, since I’ve become a father, I have found myself reinvigorated and even more invested in my work and in fulfilling the promises we made when we formed Government—focusing on protecting the most vulnerable in society, especially our children.
Last July, when I was named Minister of Justice, the first thing I sought to do was learn first-hand about the experiences Canadians had had with our justice system. More specifically, I wanted to ask them:
- Is our justice system effective?
- Is it responsive?
- Is it accessible?
As such, over the course of last summer, I held a series of consultations and met with Canadians from coast to coast, to get their opinions and their views.
The responses and feedback I heard revealed a great deal. It became clear to me that while we have come a long way, there is still a stretch of road ahead of us and we have some important work left to do.
So, this evening I want to talk about:
- How our government is listening to Canadians and learning from them;
- How we are collaborating with our partners;
- And, more importantly, how we are taking action on various areas of importance in a modern criminal justice system.
As I was saying earlier, shortly after being named Minister of Justice, we were on the road across the country holding a series of consultations. While our conversations were broad and far-reaching, we nonetheless also focused on gathering input on our upcoming Canadian Victims Bill of Rights.
It was important for me to receive direct, unfiltered and honest input from victims of crime; victims’ advocates; and those who work in the criminal justice system, to better ensure our Government can use federal legislation to address the rights of victims and give them a more effective voice in the justice system.
Addressing the needs of victims of crime requires considerable dedication from all those involved in the criminal justice system—including members of the bar and the bench.
I was therefore pleased to receive feedback from my consultation with the CBA Criminal Justice Section last October on this very topic, as well as the written submission they provided, with their thoughts and views.
We also received submissions from Canadians, following a comments process we held online, to ensure everyone who wished to comment, had the opportunity to do so.
The direction we received from all these sources was very clear: Canadians want their justice system to take the rights of victims into consideration.
Among other things, I learned that victims want access to more meaningful information, given at a timely point in the criminal justice process. They also want meaningful participation and consideration in the system. And, they do not want to feel re-victimized by the criminal justice system itself.
I also heard about the need to be vigilant to the unintended consequences that might result from the creation of a Victims Bill of Rights—such as the potential for increased delays in the criminal justice system.
It is certainly not our intent to create barriers to access the system.
All of these considerations have been fed into the process of developing our country’s first Victims Bill of Rights, and give victims a stronger voice in our justice system by setting out basic rights.
I can tell you that our Government intends to introduce it this session. We want to make sure we get it right—so that justice is not only done, but is seen to be done.
We also want to get it right when it comes to protecting our children.
Our sons and daughters should feel safe in their environment—be it riding a bike in the neighbourhood or surfing the net.
No one should have to do what Rehtaeh Parsons did in the face of cyberbullying.
Ladies and gentlemen, we must protect our children against online predators.
Not only have I heard from Rehtaeh’s parents, but I’ve also been listening to organizations such as the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.
In addition, a working group of officials at the federal, provincial and territorial levels has examined the issue and identified actions that could be taken to confront cyberbullying.
Moreover, many law enforcement agencies have expressed the need for more effective tools to deal with cyberbullying and other cybercrimes.
The legislation we have introduced in response—Bill C-13, the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act—would make it a criminal offence to share intimate images without the consent of the person in the image.
It would also give our justice system more tools for dealing more effectively with this serious problem.
But it will take more than criminal law to tackle this issue. I believe it must be treated holistically, through prevention, education and building awareness.
And everyone has a part to play. Educators, non-governmental organizations, community groups, students and parents must be involved in helping to address this growing problem.
So along with our legislation, our government’s new advertising campaign and website are helping educate both parents and teens on what to do in the face of cyberbullying.
By taking these steps and building upon them, we can improve how the justice system reacts to these disturbing crimes.
That level of involvement by all stakeholders and partners has to extend to other areas of the criminal justice system in the name of protecting our citizens and maintaining their trust.
Following on recent cases in Nova Scotia and elsewhere in Canada, our government recently reinstated the Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act in Parliament. The Act proposes reasonable changes to the mental disorder regime in the Criminal Code and the National Defence Act to better protect Canadians.
These changes are intended to strike a better balance between the need to protect society from those who pose a significant threat to the public and the need to treat accused persons who are found to be not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (NCR) appropriately.
The legislation would explicitly set out that the safety of the public must be the paramount consideration in the decision-making process relating to NCR accused persons.
It would also create a new process to determine whether certain NCR accused persons should be designated as high-risk, and hence placed in custody and be subject to other restrictions—thereby protecting Canadians.
The Bill would also consider victims when decisions are being made about mentally disordered accused persons.
These changes have been carefully crafted, and they balance the safety of the public with the fair and appropriate treatment of the mentally disordered accused.
Furthermore, I want to emphasize that our proposed reforms will not affect access to treatment for mentally disordered accused persons in any way.
What they will do is build on our Government’s continuing goal to protect Canadians, ensure safer communities, and give victims a stronger voice.
Moreover, they respond to the concerns victims and many other Canadians, as well as the provinces and territories, have voiced.
I certainly appreciate the effort and enthusiasm of the members of the CBA—both at the national and provincial levels—in addressing the needs of the justice system.
Your advocacy and institutional knowledge is an essential part of how justice operates in this country.
As I said back in August, at the national CBA conference in Saskatoon, it is essential for me to keep the lines between us open and dialogue frank, honest and ongoing.
It has been, and will continue to be, a busy year in Ottawa, and in the world of justice in Canada.
As we go forward, our Government and the Department of Justice will continue to work in partnership with you.
And, I am confident that together we will do our part to ensure our justice system remains fair, accessible and effective.
I hope you enjoy your evening and the rest of the conference.
Thank you.
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