Parliamentary Committee Notes: Summary Of Second Reading Debate

Bill C-20 - An Act establishing the Public Complaints and Review Commission and
amending certain Acts and statutory instruments

Bill C-20, which would establish the Public Complaints and Review Commission (PCRC), an external review body for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), received support from all parties at Second Reading Debate.  

Debates took place on November 3rd, November 22nd, and November 25th, 2022. Bill C-20 was referred to the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security (SECU) on November 25th, 2022.

The following main items were raised during debate:

Representation within the PCRC

The New Democratic Party (NDP), the Bloc Québécois (BQ) and the Green Party of Canada (GP)  expressed support for increased Indigenous, Black and other racialized representation on the PCRC.

The NDP announced that it intends to propose an amendment to that effect at Committee. This would include the nomination of an Indigenous person as a one of the five Governor in Council appointed Members of the Commission.

In addition, the NDP stated support for increased representation from Indigenous women, members of the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community, members of the newcomer community, women, and communities that have been affected by the RCMP or the CBSA.

The NDP and the GP expressed that the Bill fails to meet pertinent recommendations set out in the SECU report on Systemic Racism in Policing in Canada. Specifically, they raised that the Bill falls short in responding to recommendations 3 (allowing Indigenous participation in the CRCC review process, to hold the RCMP accountable) and 4 (appointment of Indigenous, Black and racialized people, and residents of Northern communities, in CRCC investigation and leadership positions) of the report.

Need for consultations

The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC), the NDP and the BQ have all inquired about the amount of consultations that have occurred while developing Bill C-20.  

While the CPC is eager to engage in further consultations at Committee, they have raised that there has been a lack of consultations with stakeholders, including Indigenous communities. In particular, they have expressed a desire to consult representatives from law enforcement agencies and people working with Indigenous communities.

Need for proper resourcing

The CPC and the BQ have expressed the need to properly resource the CBSA to ensure that they have the required resources and tools to incorporate the new activities set out under Bill C-20, while continuing to fulfill their mandate. The BQ has cited comments made by the CIU to that effect.

The CPC also raised the need to ensure that RCMP officers have the proper resources to conduct their law enforcement functions.

The NDP expressed the need to properly resource the PCRC to allow it to fulfill all of its complaints and review functions.

Concern about time needed to establish a review body for CBSA

The CPC, the NDP and the BQ have frequently raised the fact that much time has passed to advance the priority of establishing an independent review body for the CBSA, citing both Bill C-98 in 2019 and Bill C-3 in 2020, which both died on the Order Paper.

Additional items raised

The Conservative Party mentioned that it intends to propose amendments at Committee, without further elaborating on specifics.

The NDP has expressed support for an amendment that would allow Parliamentarians and Parliamentary Committees to request that the PCRC conduct specified activity reviews of RCMP and CBSA activities.

The BQ stressed the importance of ensuring the complaint mechanism is properly publicized once the PCRC is established, to ensure the public is fully informed of its existence. The BQ also noted the CIU’s wish to ensure that systemic issues concerning the upper echelons of the CBSA are also dealt with through the proposed Bill.

Both the CPC and the NDP raised the matter of exploring how Bill C-20 could improve the internal culture of law enforcement agencies, in the context of instances of sexual harassment within the RCMP. The CPC has suggested inviting the Honourable Michel Bastarache, the administrator of the settlement related to the class-action sexual harassment lawsuit against the RCMP, as a Committee witness.

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