Discussion · Government Orders
Jean-Denis Garon Bloc Québécois
“The government is cutting 15% from almost every department. Blanket cuts will hurt direct services like prisons, where staff are needed to keep people safe. The government should protect these essential services instead of cutting everywhere.”
“Madam Speaker, this is what can happen when budget cuts are made quickly across the board, using a blanket approach. The government decided that, aside from defence and two or three other organizations, every department will face 15% budget cuts. With regard to penitentiaries, the Archambault facility was located in my riding before the electoral boundaries were revised. There were significant security issues there, including people smuggling in 3-D printed parts for firearms. Thankfully, no one ever smuggled in enough parts to build a whole firearm. The people who work there provide a direct service, one that is essential both to the safety of Quebeckers and Canadians and to that of inmates, as well as to maintaining public confidence in our correctional system and in the rule of law. There is this notion that budget cuts can be made everywhere and AI can be brought in, as though we were at McKinsey, and that it will deliver the same results because the federal government does not really provide services. In fact, the government provides few enough as it is, so I think it should give special consideration to those areas where services are actually being delivered and where public confidence in our most fundamental institutions could be undermined. The situation in our penitentiaries illustrates what can happen when the intentions are good, but the desire is to move too fast and go too far.”
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Madam Speaker, this is what can happen when budget cuts are made quickly across the board, using a blanket approach. The government decided that, aside from defence and two or three other organizations, every department will face 15% budget cuts. With regard to penitentiaries, the Archambault facility was located in my riding before the electoral boundaries were revised. There were significant security issues there, including people smuggling in 3-D printed parts for firearms. Thankfully, no one ever smuggled in enough parts to build a whole firearm. The people who work there provide a direct service, one that is essential both to the safety of Quebeckers and Canadians and to that of inmates, as well as to maintaining public confidence in our correctional system and in the rule of law. There is this notion that budget cuts can be made everywhere and AI can be brought in, as though we were at McKinsey, and that it will deliver the same results because the federal government does not really provide services. In fact, the government provides few enough as it is, so I think it should give special consideration to those areas where services are actually being delivered and where public confidence in our most fundamental institutions could be undermined. The situation in our penitentiaries illustrates what can happen when the intentions are good, but the desire is to move too fast and go too far.