IN THE HOUSE – ‘If standing up for victims means making a fool of myself..’

Excerpt from debate in the Public Safety Committee on March 11, 2024 involving Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Frank Caputo and other committee members. Caputo was proposing “That, in light of the transfer of sadistic killer Luka Magnotta out of a maximum-security prison to a medium-security prison, the same facility that serial killer and rapist Paul Bernardo was transferred to last year, and given that the Minister’s office was made aware of these transfers in advance, the committee: immediately undertake a study in priority order, of no less than six meetings, with these meetings to begin this week, on how the decision to make this transfer (of killer Luca Magnotta to medium security) was made and on the prisoner transfer process for prisoners in maximum-security facilities, and report its findings to the House….”

The following exchange took place later in the meeting:

Jennifer O’Connell, Pickering—Uxbridge, ON (Liberal): Mr. Chair, if Mr. Caputo wants to read something into the record, that’s fine, but he is attributing an amendment to Mr. Schiefke that didn’t happen.

I think he should stick to his counterpoints instead of these pretty lame personal attacks. We’ve all been able to speak to our points, and he should continue to do so without the personal attacks, because he’s making a fool of himself at this moment.

Frank Caputo, Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboor (Conservative): If standing up for victims means making a fool of myself, Ms. O’Connell, I’ll make a fool of myself each and every day. I will show up to Parliament right here, right now, today, tomorrow and the next day and make a fool of myself.

I’m going to read this into the record for the benefit of those who plan on voting with this amendment to gut it from six meetings to one. The Bloc and the Liberals are seemingly teaming up to gut the very amendment the Liberals were putting forward. The message says that it’s important to hear the witnesses on the impact of these moves and that victims deserve more than one meeting.

What I’d love is for the Liberals and the Bloc to explain why, with this amendment, they are voting to gut the list of the very witnesses they said we need to hear from. Why are they choosing to side with less information instead of more, while they accuse others of getting on a soapbox when they are the ones making this political?

I would love for them to answer that question. Why? It’s for the victims. They should be answering.

Source: OpenParliament.ca