Justice

Question period dealt with rising extortion and violent crime, particularly extortion targeting the South Asian community. Conservatives said Liberal justice policies had made things worse, and pressed the government to repeal what they called soft-on-crime laws, restore mandatory minimum sentences including a 10-year sentence for extortion, require offenders to serve full sentences, and deport non-citizens who commit serious crimes. Liberals pointed to a recent Peel Regional Police operation with other agencies that led to 17 arrests, said their crime plan is working, and urged Conservatives to stop delaying the government’s lawful access legislation so police can act faster. The government also said it has embedded FINTRAC with law enforcement and used the CBSA to remove removable non-citizens.Written by AI from the debate. Updated .

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3 statements

Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Public Safety

Liberal
“Police arrested 17 people from a criminal network that targeted the South Asian community with violent extortion. The police want the House to pass this bill on lawful access to help them stop crimes like this.”
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Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge the excellent work of Peel Regional Police in collaboration with the OPP, CBSA, FINTRAC and the FBI, which announced the arrest of 17 individuals connected to an international criminal network. This network is responsible for violent extortion targeting the South Asian community across Canada. The operation dismantled a campaign involving 24 incidents, resulting in 106 charges. Extortion and intimidation will never be tolerated in Canada. That is why the Peel Police and others have asked for Bill C-22, on lawful access, to be passed by the House.

Ruby Sahota, Secretary of State (Combatting Crime)

Liberal
“Police arrested over 17 people in Peel, but the investigation took eight months. Our bill gives police the access they need to catch criminals faster and protect victims. The Conservatives are stalling it.”
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Mr. Speaker, our plan is working, and that is what the Peel Regional Police’s investigation results show. The police have arrested over 17 individuals. Unfortunately, the investigation took eight months. What could have sped up that investigation so we could have caught those criminals within a month or less? Lawful access could have, but the Conservatives have been stalling the bill ever since we introduced it last year. It is what law enforcement is asking for, and we could mitigate having more victims because of the Conservatives’ stalling.

Ruby Sahota, Secretary of State (Combatting Crime)

Liberal
“Our plan to stop crime is working. We are making our laws stronger, catching criminals, and sending people who commit crimes out of the country. Because of this, extortion is going down and criminals are going to jail.”
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Mr. Speaker, like I said, our plan is working. We are strengthening our laws. We are catching criminals, and that is shown by the results we are seeing across the country right now. We have embedded FINTRAC into our law enforcement agencies, and we are also using CBSA to remove people who are removable. This plan is working, extortions are coming down and criminals are being put behind bars.

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