Mr. Bruce Hyer

Mr. Speaker, Roman Jakubowski, the student president at Lakehead University, the hon. member for Thunder Bay—Superior North, the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands, and the Green Party actually believe that the feds do have a role in reducing student debt in Canada.

Statistics Canada reports that students from low-income families were less than half as likely to go to university than those from high-income families. Students with little or no debt were more than twice as likely to finish their degrees than students with high levels of debt. The completion rate for students with under $1,000 of debt was 71%, while the completion rate for those with over $10,000 in debt was 34%.

A post-secondary education has never been more necessary in Canada, and it has never been less accessible. Canadian youth are now the most indebted generation in the country's history. This debt will have far-reaching implications for Canada's economy and socio-economic equality.

When will these Conservatives start funding higher education for students across Canada and in Thunder Bay—Superior North and make Canada fairer and more effective with a more dynamic society and economy?

Mr. Andrew Saxton

Mr. Speaker, we are, in fact, funding higher education for students, to the tune of $10 billion every year with our transfers to the provinces and territories. Again, I invite the hon. member to review the facts and start getting onside to help students, as we have been doing.

The expanded eligibility for low- and middle-income Canada student grants is expected to help over 42,000 students. The reduction of the parental contribution in Canada student loans is expected to help 92,000 students. The elimination of the in-study income from the needs assessment is expected to increase loans amounts for an estimated 87,000 students. The worst thing we could do for students, again, as I mentioned, is to follow the Liberal and NDP plan to increase taxes on Canadians, which would kill jobs and hurt students' ability to find jobs once they graduate.

Here is our record. We ended the Liberal practice of taxing scholarships and replaced it with a tax credit for textbooks, and the student loan debt has declined by 10% in real terms. We created apprenticeship grants and loans and over 500,000 have been given out; trade, training and tax cuts; and more jobs for students.

Let me reassure the hon. member that helping students remains the top priority of our government, but it is clear that our record is on one issue. When will the member opposite get on board and help support our initiatives?

Mrs. Maria Mourani (Ahuntsic, Ind.)

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to speak today to the question that I asked the Minister of Public Safety about the actions of Alpine Canada and the RCMP in the Bertrand Charest case.

I will briefly outline the case. Mr. Charest coached Alpine Canada's women's development team between 1996 and 1998. The incidents occurred at least 15 years ago. Apparently, Alpine Canada was informed of allegations of sexual misconduct at the time. Alpine Canada suspended Mr. Charest, who subsequently resigned.

We have learned that Alpine Canada then transferred the file to the RCMP. The organization is said to have informed the RCMP of the allegations and even collaborated with the RCMP. However, Alpine Canada says that it is not aware of the results of the RCMP investigation. We have also learned that, at the time, Alpine Canada allegedly asked parents not to go to the police, to let the organization handle it and, above all, to think of the sponsors. Can you believe it. That is some kind of protection for the young women they were responsible for.

One has to wonder whether Alpine Canada took any action after firing Mr. Charest. Did it take measures to ensure that he could no longer coach? All I have to say is that I do not think that Alpine Canada took any such measures, because about 15 years later, one of the victims saw him working as a coach at a ski hill.

Of course, that victim must have been horrified to see that he was still a coach. She pressed criminal charges against him for an assault that occurred 15 years ago. These incidents occurred in Mont-Tremblant, Europe and Calgary and there were a number of victims. In March 2015, the first charge was laid against Mr. Charest. For what? For the sexual assault of a minor. On May 22, we learned that there had been another victim. There were at least 12 victims. In 2015, 12 victims suddenly came forward. Mr. Charest is facing 57 charges of sexual assault involving minors between the ages of 12 and 18 who were in his care.

Here is the big question: What happened when Alpine Canada gave Mr. Charest's name to the RCMP? Did the RCMP question the victims? Was there an investigation? If there was an investigation, why were there no charges 15 years ago but there are charges now? Fifty-seven charges is not nothing.

In order to shed light on this matter, I asked the Minister of Public Safety to order an administrative investigation of Alpine Canada to find out what happened, and also to order an investigation of the RCMP, to find out why no charges were laid 15 years ago and why it started laying charges in March 2015 against this man, who was still a coach in a ski organization. He was still coaching young kids. I look forward to my colleague's response to this.

Mr. Andrew Saxton (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, CPC)

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Ahuntsic for her question.

Crimes committed against children or other vulnerable populations are some of the most deplorable crimes that one can commit.

The question from the hon. member for Ahuntsic is specific to a case that is currently before the courts. I have been advised that the RCMP in British Columbia continues to support various police services of jurisdiction in Canada where the allegations took place as they continue their investigation. It would be inappropriate for me to comment further until such time as this matter reaches its conclusion in the justice system.

I can, however, speak to some of the many ways that the RCMP works within Canada and with our international partners to investigate and combat sexual offences against children.

Investigations of sexual offences against children are not easy. Offenders commit these crimes and transfer information across borders, both nationally and internationally. That is why this government tabled Bill C-26, the tougher penalties for child predators act. Should Bill C-26 be adopted, it will bring new obligations for child sex offenders who travel outside of Canada to notify a national sex offender registry registration centre of the date of the departure and return, and of every address at which they expect to stay for any trip of any duration.

The new legislative amendments will also include changes to information sharing between the RCMP and CBSA. These changes will not only help the RCMP in the prevention and investigation of crimes of a sexual nature, but also assist in the verification of registered offenders' compliance to their obligations.

Investigations into sexual offences against children also take a toll on the investigators who see images and videos that can only be described as sickening. Even working in this environment, they do not waver in their pursuit of bringing the perpetrators to justice. These investigators go to work each day, doggedly pursuing some of the world's most heinous offenders, knowing that they are making a difference in the lives of victims, while showing an unbelievable amount of compassion and caring when interviewing or taking statements from victims.

The RCMP ensures that its police officers receive adequate training in sexual assault investigations and have continual access to resource and training material to combat sexual offences against children. The RCMP has developed case management strategies to deal with more complex investigations or offences involving multiple victims, including investigations of sexual offences against children.

The RCMP is the police force of jurisdiction in many different regions of Canada. RCMP divisions have developed directives in consultation and co-operation with their respective attorneys general, health and social service agencies, and child protection workers to ensure that provincial and territorial requirements are fully and accurately reflected in investigational procedures and protocols.

Outside of investigational avenues, individuals applying for employment or volunteer work in positions of trust or authority over children, seniors or other vulnerable persons may have to undergo a vulnerable sector check. These checks verify whether an individual has a criminal record, as well as any record suspensions, formerly known as pardons, for sexual offences.

Our Conservative government wholeheartedly supports the RCMP in its ongoing efforts to find, investigate and bring the perpetrators of these heinous offences to justice. I hope the member will finally get on board and support us with our bill, as well as the RCMP.

Mrs. Maria Mourani

Mr. Speaker, I would like to clarify that I asked the Minister of Public Safety to investigate Alpine Canada and the RCMP, not Mr. Charest. We know that he is already in court.

What we and the victims want to know is why there does not seem to have been an RCMP investigation 15 years ago resulting in charges and convictions and why it is happening now. Why did Alpine Canada and the RCMP fail in their role and their duty to protect the young people they were responsible for? That is what we want: an investigation into Alpine Canada and the RCMP, not Mr. Charest.

When the minister tells me that he does not want to investigate Alpine Canada or the RCMP, what I hear is that he is not interested in finding out what the problem was. That means there could well be pedophiles in similar organizations and other international, Olympic or professional sports organizations. Those guys are still assaulting kids.

We want to find a solution to the problem, while the Conservatives seem to want to do nothing, which is too bad. This really goes to show that the Conservatives do not care about the victims.

Mr. Andrew Saxton

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member could not be further from the truth. As I said earlier, we have cracked down on perpetrators by introducing new, tough laws. As I have already mentioned, this case is still before the courts and of course we cannot interfere in a case that is before the courts.

The hon. member heard already about our government's plans to introduce tougher penalties for travelling child sex offenders in Bill C-26, which is currently before committee in the other House.

Let me add that the bill also proposes the creation of a public website on high risk offenders. High risk child sex offenders would be identified in the national sex offender registry, which is administered by the RCMP. That information would be made available on a publicly accessible database.

High risk offenders are those who have committed offences identified through the public interest disclosure process, which is administered by the provinces and the territories.

Our government will continue to work with the RCMP and partners at all levels to protect Canada's young people from sexual exploitation. I urge that member to finally get on board with any of our tough on crime measures that put criminals where they belong, and stop voting against them. We want to put criminals behind bars where they deserve to be.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Bruce Stanton)

The motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, this House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 6:06 p.m.)