Restoring trust in Canada’s public safety starts with accountability.

It is always an honour to rise on behalf of my riding Kitchener Centre. I rise not just as a Member of Parliament today, but as a representative of a community, my community, Kitchener, that is hurting. Hurting from rising crime, broken trust, and a justice system that no longer puts public safety first. After a summer of violent crime and eroded trust in our public safety, Canadians are demanding swift action, and they have every right to do so. Across this country, violent crime is up 55 per cent. Firearms offences from non-law-abiding citizens have surged 130 per cent. Extortion has skyrocketed by 330 per cent. These are not just statistics. They represent the shattered lives, the grieving families, and the communities living in fear. This crisis didn't happen by accident. In 2019, the Liberal government passed Bill C-75, which forced judges to release offenders at the earliest possible opportunity under the least restrictive conditions. As a result, a revolving door of repeat violent offenders back on our streets. I will be splitting my time today. Let me be clear. This is a crisis of the Liberals' own making, and Canadians are left to live with the devastating consequences. We have all heard the heartbreaking stories. One that stays with me, though, is Daniel Senecal, convicted of sexual assault, released again under weakened bail laws, and then accused of sexually assaulting a three-year-old child. Who we have become to know as little e. This three-year-old child has had to spend three weeks in the hospital recovering from this unimaginable, irrevocable act, and she will be scarred for life. She is a child. It is the cost of this system that prioritizes offenders over victims. And then there's Scott Weller, a victim of violent home invasion. Scott said, As someone who knows firsthand the trauma of a violent home invasion, I believe strongly in the need for jail, not bail. My family was attacked in what should have been the safety of our own home. The idea that violent offenders could be released back onto our streets is terrifying, not just for us, but for every Canadian family. Scott's words are powerful. It reminds us that public safety must come first, that the rights of victims and families must come before the rights of violent offenders. The Toronto Police Association put it plainly. The proposed ideas will put victims and communities first, restoring the balance that is desperately needed at a time when youth violence and gun crimes are out of control and innocent victims are paying the ultimate price. This is why conservatives are introducing C-242 Jail, Not Bail Act, a bill that restores accountability, protects communities, and puts victims first. Let me bring this closer to my riding in Kitchener. In the region of Waterloo, in 2024 alone, there were 3,896 undertakings and 2,334 releases. That's a 61% release rate. That means the majority of the accused individuals were sent back into our neighbourhoods. But what's even more troubling, approximately 50% of those charges brought forward by the Waterloo Regional Police are not being pursued by Crown Prosecution. That's half of these cases gone. Not prosecuted, gone. And of those released on undertakings or release orders in 2023 and 2024, 20% of those were found to be in disregard of their terms of their release. Worse still, more than half of those offenders were caught multiple times. These are the repeat offenders we need off of our streets. I just received an email today from Anka, a 76-year-old woman in my community. She told me today that she's nervous to walk around her community in broad daylight. That she wants us to restore Canada to back to what it was where it's safe for her children and her grandchildren. And it isn't just families that are suffering. Businesses in my downtown core of Kitchener Centre are struggling. Their businesses are being broken into. Their customers are afraid to come downtown. The rise in crime is hurting our business community. Hard-working entrepreneurs who are trying to keep their doors open and their staff safe. Public safety is economic safety. And right now, both are at risk. But perhaps the most disturbing example of what happened recently in my own community. A sexual assault and attempted kidnapping of a six-year-old child. The accused was released on conditions and is still residing in the same community where those children live. This is not okay. Our children's safety is at risk. No parent should have to live with the fear that a violent offender is living down the street. No child should be put in harm's way because our justice system has failed to act. C-242, the Jail Not Bail Act, will, number one, repeal and replace the liberal principle of restraint. With a directive that public protection and safety be the primary consideration. Well number two, create a new major offenses category with reverse onus bail conditions for charges like firearm offenses, sexual assault, kidnapping, human trafficking, home invasion, robbery, extortion, arson and assault. Number three, will strengthen bail laws by requiring judges to consider an accused full criminal history and preventing bail for anyone convicted of a major offense in the last ten years who is now charged again. Number four, will toughen the risk assessment standard from substantial likelihood to reasonably foreseeable. And number five, will prohibit anyone with an indictable conviction from acting as a guarantor. We will enforce bail conditions on guarantors and require non-residents to surrender passports upon request. This is not about being punitive. It's about being responsible. It's about restoring order to our streets, trust in our justice system, and confidence in our communities. Conservatives are calling on all political parties to set aside political differences and do what's right. Canadians deserve a justice system that protects them, one that enables them not repeat offenders. To every victim, every family, every child, every business owner, and every community that has lived through the trauma of violence, conservatives hear you. We stand with you. We are taking action. You deserve to learn, live, and work in safe streets, go to bed without worry, know your children can play safe in their yards and their parks, and live in a Canada that we lived in before the Liberal C-75 Get Out of Jail Free Card Act. Let's restore justice. Let's restore confidence in public safety. Let's pass the C-42 Jail Not Bail Act. Thank you. Questions and comments.