Great to be on CBC K-W, The Morning Edition with Craig Norris to talk about my Private…

Kitchener Center MP Kelly DeRitter has brought forward a private members bill and in it she aims to amend the criminal code. One thing the conservative MP wants is stricter penalties for fentanyl traffickers, but she also wants to see more opportunities for court order rehabilitation as part of parole requirements. To take us through the bill, I am joined by MP DeRitter now. Good morning. Good morning. How are you? I'm doing well. Thank you. How are you? I'm well. Thank you. I have a very brief overview of the bill, but take us through the private members bill and what you want to see changed. Sure. So really the bill has three pillars to it. Number one is the judges can prescribe optional rehabilitation or skills training or education, whatever would be most impactful for the offender. And then number two, the parole board would have insight to whether or not the offender has completed their rehabilitation plan that was prescribed by the judge when considering parole. And then number three, people who are caught dealing fentanyl, it will be considered an aggravating factor, which just really means that it will be harsher penalties given to people caught dealing fentanyl. So what I want to do with this bill is I want to hold the perpetrators of this drug crisis accountable. And so fentanyl dealers will go to jail. And I want to focus on healing the victims of this drug crisis by offering rehabilitation in incarceration. What are you hearing from people in Kitchener Center when it comes to drug use in our community? So it's so multifaceted. The first thing that I'm hearing is that our businesses are really being affected. Our crime is up in the community, especially our businesses and our downtown core. But also on the other side of this is that, you know, anybody who's been caught in the clutches of addiction are members, you know, of our community, their sisters, their brothers, their mothers, their aunts, uncles, their people that can and will rehabilitate when the proper supports are put in place. And I want to focus on doing that for these people. As the MP for Kitchener Center, talk a bit more about that. I mean, the concerns you have heard from people or have you witnessed anything yourself that inspired you to want to make this change? So actually, this drug crisis is my life in politics. I'm just seeing that it's getting absolutely out of control. And the policies that are in place today are not focusing on rehabilitation. In my view, they enable. And the reason why I decided to actually run was I was walking my infant daughter through Victoria Park. And we were walking by the clock tower at Victoria Park and there was someone smoking some substance. I don't know what it was, but he blew it in our direction and it wafted over my daughter's carriage at the time and I was angry. I was very angry in that moment, but in no way was I angry at him at all for doing it. I was angry at the policies that made it okay and that my daughter's safety was an afterthought. And so I immediately went home and I said to my husband that, you know, I think it's time, I think it's time that I run and do something about this. So do you want to circle back? I mean, you said you weren't angry at the person who was smoking. You were angry at the person, you know, the trafficker. So let's get to that part of it and the rehabilitation part of this. You also want to see more opportunities for judges to give court ordered rehabilitation. What do you think that looks like? So right now, what it looks like is optional rehabilitation for the offender. That's what's in my bill. It's optional. It'll be prescribed by a judge and then a parole board can have a look at it. What I, you know, what I would like to see is on a national level that we are starting to focus on rehabilitation on a national level. So I think that this is going to open up the conversation towards focusing on rehabilitation and not the current enabling policies that are in place. What offenders do you anticipate this would be for? Would fentanyl traffickers be eligible for this? So the fentanyl traffickers, I want to be an aggravated factor. They go to jail. They are people making money off of this. They are the perpetrators in this situation. So they go to jail with harsher restrictions, harsher penalties, and then people who also go to jail for petty crime or things like that, then they're offered the rehabilitation or skills training or education, whatever it may be, so that they have an opportunity to turn their lives around. And the bill had its first reading in September. Do you know when it might go for second reading? So I tabled it in September. And so it's a little bit up in the air the timing to first debate it in the House. It's looking like it'll be either by the end of the year or into the new year. Do you have a sense of how much support you have for this bill in the House? So yes, I'm expecting this bill to pass. I have a few seconders already on it. So I have Todd Doherty, who's the Shadow Minister for Addictions with the Conservative Party. I have Brad Biff, also Conservative, Andrew Lawton, and Blaine Calkins. They're all Conservative members of my caucus, seconding it, as well as I have a lot of support within our party. And I look, at the end of the day, this is a nonpartisan issue, and I fully expect this to pass the House. Have you discussed it with any other of the people in other parties? Not at this point, no. And the House of Commons is off next week. But as you look ahead to returning on October 20th, besides this, I mean, what other local issues do you think need to be brought forward and discussed with your colleagues in Ottawa? So we're very focused, our party Conservatives are very focused on affordability, cost of living, our food bank usage is absolutely out of control, inflation, housing, affordable housing. These are all really important issues that we are bringing bills forward for that we're talking about crime, absolutely for sure. So these are our focuses. But returning, you know, for this session, we're all working hard as a caucus on these key issues facing everyone in Canada, but for me specifically in Kitchener Centre. MP Derrida, we appreciate your time this morning. Thanks for this. Thank you so much. That is Kitchener Centre MP Kelly Derrida, the Conservative MP, has brought forward a private members bill to amend the Criminal Code. She wants to see stricter penalties for people who traffic fentanyl. And she also wants to see more opportunities for court order rehabilitation for certain offenders and as part of parole.