Conservatives are battling violent crime
A political point of view
By Peter Van Loan York-Simcoe MP

MP Peter Van Loan

Last week, the Conservative Government's Tackling Violent Crime Bill finally became law. How we got it there provides and interesting window into the way that parliament works.

Canadians told us they were concerned about crime in our communities. We committed to take action in the 2006 election.

After our election in 2006, we introduced a number of justice bills. They included mandatory prison sentences for gun crimes, tougher bail provisions and sentencing and management of sexual and violent offenders, protection of young persons from sexual exploitation and a stricter law on impaired driving.

Unfortunately, these bills bogged down in two places. At parliamentary committee, the Liberals delayed and obstructed the crime bills for hundreds of days. The same delay and obstruction took place in the Liberal senate.

As a result - in our new Throne Speech last fall, we combined the proposals into a single Tackling Crime Bill, and declared it to be a confidence matter. Only by creating a risk of an election, did it seem possible to overcome the delay and obstruction tactics of the Liberal Party.

On November 28, 2007, we passed the Tackling Violent Crime Bill in the House of Commons. However, for these new protective measures to become law, and fully work to the advantage of you and your family, we needed senate review to pass the bill as well.

The Liberal dominated Senate, however, showed their true colours, refused to work towards the good of the nation, and held the bill up for months.

We had the support of the Canadian Crime Victim Foundation, MADD Canada, and other criminal justice advocates.

Although the House of Commons spoke clearly, now that that bill was at the senate (out of the eye of the media) the Liberal delay and obstruction machine was back at work.

As Government House Leader, I'm responsible for getting our proposed laws passed. Faced with this Liberal obstruction at the senate, I had to find a new tactic.

In the end, I proposed a motion in the House of Commons, asking that the senate pass the Tackling Violent Crime Bill by March 1 (giving the senators twice as much time as the House of Commons to look into the bill). The outcome, if the senate refused to do so, would be an impasse between the senate and the house - a basis for an election call.

On Feb. 23, the House of Commons passed the motion.

Passing this motion was not parliament's finest hour. During the vote in the House of Commons, every single Liberal simply got up and walked out. I guess they were just too afraid to vote against us, since they are too afraid of an election they risk losing, but they are also too stubborn to support us.

Liberal leader Stéphane Dion called the motion juvenile. Liberal senators protested that we had no right to pass a motion of this type - however, parliamentary and constitutional experts like Ned Franks declared the motion valid, and innovative. But what mattered to me was the outcome.

On Feb. 27, the senate passed the Tackling Violent Crime Bill. The Liberal senators did show their true preferences. The vote was 19 to 16 in favour, with 31 abstentions. There are only 22 Conservatives among the 91 current senators. Almost all were present to vote in favour of the Tackling Violent Crime Bill. Not a single Liberal senator voted in favour of the Tackling Violent Crime Bill.

As a result, we now have tough penalties for violent crime, gun-toting gang members, and sex offenders. We have made our streets and communities safer. Having, as Government House Leader, helped develop and implement our strategy and tactics to get the law in place, I was honoured that Prime Minister Stephen Harper asked me to stand in for him at the Royal Assent Ceremony, where Governor General Michaelle Jean made the bill law. We have delivered change for the better.