Rush on to get DNA bill passed
Today's news confirms all is a go with the passing of Bill C-13 IF the gov't doesn't fall! Here's a peak at today's Ottawa Sun:
---------------
Rush on to get DNA bill passed
By Kathleen Harris, Parliamentary Bureau
Karla Homolka will be compelled to provide federal authorities with a DNA sample -- as long as the Liberal government doesn't fall before a new bill is passed into law.
MPs from all political parties agreed yesterday to fast-track Bill C-13 so Homolka and other violent offenders don't slip out of prison without their DNA in the national database.
Currently, DNA collection -- even for serious crimes such as murder -- isn't mandatory.
Steve Sullivan of the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime said Homolka has become the "poster child" for the urgent need to pass the bill because her release is set for July, although there are many other reasons the government should pull the bill to the top of its legislative agenda, he said.
'VERY IMPORTANT BILL'
"It may be a deterrent, it may be an ability for police to solve a crime earlier if they re-offend, it may be a way of solving crimes that haven't been solved yet. So for public safety and for victims' families, this is a very important bill," he said.
Tory MP Vic Toews pressed Justice Minister Irwin Cotler to "step up to the plate" and do the right thing, but Grit House Leader Tony Valeri was non-committal in the Commons.
"When we co-operate and focus on the interests and priorities of Canadians, Parliament can in fact work," he said.
Ottawa resident Carolyn Gardner, whose sister Sheryl was murdered by a psychopath in 1981, wrote to Conservative Leader Stephen Harper yesterday warning of the "serious implications" and asking he postpone toppling the government.
"Unless this bill is passed, Homolka's DNA will not be in the national DNA databank. I believe Canadians will question the motives of anyone who does not do whatever they can to prevent that from happening -- especially when we are so very close," she said.
---------------
Rush on to get DNA bill passed
By Kathleen Harris, Parliamentary Bureau
Karla Homolka will be compelled to provide federal authorities with a DNA sample -- as long as the Liberal government doesn't fall before a new bill is passed into law.
MPs from all political parties agreed yesterday to fast-track Bill C-13 so Homolka and other violent offenders don't slip out of prison without their DNA in the national database.
Currently, DNA collection -- even for serious crimes such as murder -- isn't mandatory.
Steve Sullivan of the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime said Homolka has become the "poster child" for the urgent need to pass the bill because her release is set for July, although there are many other reasons the government should pull the bill to the top of its legislative agenda, he said.
'VERY IMPORTANT BILL'
"It may be a deterrent, it may be an ability for police to solve a crime earlier if they re-offend, it may be a way of solving crimes that haven't been solved yet. So for public safety and for victims' families, this is a very important bill," he said.
Tory MP Vic Toews pressed Justice Minister Irwin Cotler to "step up to the plate" and do the right thing, but Grit House Leader Tony Valeri was non-committal in the Commons.
"When we co-operate and focus on the interests and priorities of Canadians, Parliament can in fact work," he said.
Ottawa resident Carolyn Gardner, whose sister Sheryl was murdered by a psychopath in 1981, wrote to Conservative Leader Stephen Harper yesterday warning of the "serious implications" and asking he postpone toppling the government.
"Unless this bill is passed, Homolka's DNA will not be in the national DNA databank. I believe Canadians will question the motives of anyone who does not do whatever they can to prevent that from happening -- especially when we are so very close," she said.
posted by Carolyn Gardner at 10:43 a.m. 
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home