M.P. Brown presents $78,750 for Kidd’s Creek
Today M.P. Patrick Brown presented a cheque for $78,750, on behalf of the federal government which will go towards the ‘Kidd’s Creek Erosion Control Measures at Cundles Road’ project.

Due to a severe storm which took place on the 9thof June, 2005, a section of Kidd’s Creek at Cundles Road experienced significant flooding and sustained damage to the road crossing culvert inlet and outlet, which carry water from one place to another. Bank erosion also occurred which washed out vegetation. The goal of the Kidd’s Creek Erosion Control Measures at Cundles Road project is to enhance aquatic habitat, improve the quality of storm runoff that drains from the creek into Lake Simcoe, and to stabilize the creek banks and road side slope. This grant will go towards repairing the damage by improving culvert headwalls, adding a plunge pool at the culvert outlet, and stabilizing the creek banks with native vegetation and river rock.

“This is the second cheque presented on behalf of the federal government in the past week. This shows we are serious about taking real action when it comes to cleaning up Lake Simcoe.” said M.P. Brown.

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MP Patrick Brown Announces Grant for Hotchkiss Creek

On behalf of the federal government, MP Patrick Brown is pleased to announce a ‘Hotchkiss Creek Outlet to Kempenfelt Bay’ grant in the amount of $315, 000. The total cost of the project is $630,000; the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority in partnership with the Lake Simcoe Water Quality Improvement Program will contribute $20,000 and the City of Barrie will contribute $270,000.

The Hotchkiss Creek outlets to Kempenfelt Bay on Lake Simcoe; it is a channel which is limited in aquatic habitat, has erosion and sedimentation risks, and is substandard for conveyance purposes. This grant will help to achieve several goals, including the improvement of the size and shape of a section of the creek between Kempenfelt Bay and Lakeshore Drive which will increase the movement of water flow through the channel and reduce the potential for erosion along the banks. The channel enhancements will also include features that will increase the amount and quality of the aquatic habitat found in this area. The project will include stabilizing the creek banks with riverstone and native plants, and creating log and rock structures in the channel to provide fish and other aquatic life with cool, shady places to live.

The details of the cheque presentation are as follows:
July 29th, 2008 at 1pm
Barrie City Hall – The Council Chamber – 2nd Floor

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For more information contact     the office of Patrick Brown, M.P. (705) 726-5959

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MP Patrick Brown’s 3rd Annual Community BBQ a Success!

MP Patrick Brown and staff hosted their 3rd Annual Community BBQ, which took place at the Dorian Parker Centre at Sunnidale Park last Saturday.  Members of the community gathered together and enjoyed a fun filled day in the sun. All proceeds raised at this event go directly towards the RVH Doctor Recruitment Scholarship and the Navy League Cadets, Barrie Branch.

Last Saturday’s BBQ proved to be a success, especially for the youngsters who enjoyed the mini obstacle course, face painting, and of course ‘Soaking their MP!’

The turnout for this year’s BBQ was amazing and the weather could not have been
better. It was good to see the Barrie community come together to support two great    causes, the RVH Doctor Recruitment Scholarship and the Navy League Cadets, Barrie Branch,” said MP Brown.

The 3rd Annual Community BBQ was sponsored by the generous efforts of Sobeys.

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For more information contact     the office of Patrick Brown, M.P. (705) 726-5959

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TOUGHER LAWS TO CRACK DOWN ON IMPAIRED DRIVERS AND DANGEROUS OFFENDERS COME INTO FORCE ON JULY 2nd

OTTAWA – July 3, 2008 – Patrick Brown, Member of Parliament for Barrie, announced that new laws took effect on July 2, 2008 that will better protect Canadians from people who commit serious and violent crimes.

The new laws are part of the federal government’s Tackling Violent Crime Act, and amend Canada’s Criminal Code to ensure:

oThere are stronger penalties for impaired driving, and new ways to detect and investigate drug-impaired driving; and
oThere is more effective sentencing and monitoring to prevent dangerous, high-risk offenders from offending again.

“With this legislation, our Government is taking action to protect the lives of innocent people from those who drive under the influence of drugs and alcohol.” said MP Brown, “This is another example of our government getting things done for families and taxpayers by working to keep our streets safe.”

MP Brown is a former board member of MADD Barrie/Simcoe Chapter and was a member of the Government Standing Committee on Justice for 2006/2007.

On May 1, 2008, three other laws came into effect as part of the government’s Tackling Violent Crime Act that better protect Canadians against those who commit serious and violent crimes:

•Raising the age of protection from 14 years to 16 years;
•Providing tougher sentences for serious gun crimes; and
•Ensuring that bail provisions better protect the public from gun violence.

The Government of Canada has been working since 2006 to introduce new measures that will tackle violent crime and make Canadian communities safer.  We have:
•Passed legislation to increase penalties for those convicted of street racing;
•Passed legislation to end conditional sentences (house arrest) for serious personal injury and violent offences, including sexual assault;
•Introduced legislation to tackle property theft, including the serious crime of auto theft;
•Introduced a National Anti-Drug Strategy, including legislation that would provide mandatory jail time for serious drug crimes;
•Introduced legislation to strengthen the Youth Criminal Justice Act; and commenced a comprehensive review of this Act in 2008;
•Introduced legislation to protect Canadians against identity theft; and
•Invested in crime prevention community projects across Canada that target youth.

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For an online version of the Tackling Violent Crime Act (Bill C-2) visit www.parl.gc.ca.

For more information:
Alison Eadie
705-726-5959

Canada is a great country. Traditionally we have had low rates of crime.  In fact, our peaceful, law-abiding communities are part of Canada’s traditional identity and values.
The safe streets and safe neighbourhoods that we as Canadians have come to expect as part of our way of life are threatened by rising levels of crime. Clearly this cannot go on.  If we are to protect our Canadian way of life, we need to crack down on gun, gang and drug crime.
It is for this reason that I am so proud to serve as a member of the Conservative government and under the leadership of the Rt. Hon Stephen Harper.
Our government is committed to criminal justice reform; we have made it a cornerstone of our governing agenda.
Our Government is proud to have pushed for strong criminal justice system changes for the past two years. Today, families and communities across Canada can feel safer.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged to tackle street racing by creating a new criminal code offence.  Just one month later our government passed legislation which increased the punishment for all Dangerous Driving offences with penalties of up to 14 years and lifetime imprisonment if the offence caused a death.
Last winter, the House of Commons passed the “Tackling Violent Crime” Act.
I am proud to say that last May; three of the 5 important provisions contained in this piece legislation came into force. They are:
• Better protection for youth from adult sexual predators by increasing the age of protection for sexual activity from 14 years to 16 years;  This will help protect children from sexual predators, including Internet cyber-criminals, who represent a whole new challenge for the RCMP.
• Tougher mandatory jail time for serious gun crimes; and
• New bail provisions which require those accused of serious gun crimes to show why they shouldn’t be kept in jail while awaiting trial.

The two remaining provisions came into effect on July 2, 2008.  They are:
• More effective sentencing and monitoring to prevent dangerous, high-risk offenders from offending again; and
• New ways to detect and investigate drug-impaired driving as well as stronger penalties for impaired driving.

The local MADD branch in Barrie has pushed this initiative for several years and I can tell you that when they had their charity walk two weeks ago it was certainly a proud moment to be able to express progress on having tougher laws for impaired drivers.

This Act contains long-awaited measures that will help safeguard Canadians against those who commit serious and violent crimes.
The days of soft, lenient penalties are over. These changes have been long overdue.
In 1996, house arrest was introduced by the liberal government as a sentencing option, and as a result many criminals who were charged with serious, violent crimes have been serving their sentence in their homes.  On May 31, 2007, the government’s conditional sentencing reform bill received Royal Assent and under the new reforms, conditional sentences will be prohibited for offences prosecuted by indictment that carry a maximum sentence of 10 years or more.  Those convicted of serious crimes will no longer spend their sentences playing video games in the comfort of their homes.
Today, dangerous criminals who use guns to commit their crimes, and sexual predators, preying on our youth, will now get the jail time and the penalties they deserve.
We are holding these criminals accountable.
This means making sure sentences match the severity of crimes – and getting violent criminals off the streets so they cannot re-offend.
This Government is sending a strong message to criminals: If you do a serious crime, you’re going to do serious time.
To back up these commitments, we provided $161 million in new funding in the 2006 Budget to begin recruiting a 1000 more RCMP personnel and federal prosecutors, to expand the RCMP Training Academy.

We are sparing no expense to make sure the RCMP has the people – and the facilities – to do the job we ask them to do.

That’s also why we are working with the provinces to put another 2,500 front-line police officers on our streets and allocated the funding to do so in the 2008 federal budget.

More police.

Tougher laws.

Longer sentences.

It’s all part of our action plan to tackle crime.
We wouldn’t have been able to get to where we are today without people like Joe Wamback, the father of Jonathan Wamback; a high school student brutally beaten by his fellow classmates in 1999.  Joe is an activist for criminal youth offences giving power to the court system to create harsher sentences for convicted youth.  The teens were originally charged with attempted manslaughter, but given that they were only 16 and 17 years old, the charges were subsequently downgraded to aggravated assault.  Under the Young Offenders Act, the maximum penalty the teens faced was only a sentence of two years in a juvenile detention centre. This evoked Mr. Wamback to begin creating petitions and create a support website for his son where documents of petitions and activity would be updated frequently; this sparked the beginning of a political reform on the Young Offenders Act.
The legislation proposes amendments to the Youth Criminal Justice Act making it easier to detain young offenders who pose a risk to public safety such as the teens accused in the beating of Jonathan Wamback or the teens that escaped punishment in the Tall Trees beating.
On a local note, I think it is important to educate youth on safety and crime prevention in the community, I have created an essay contest on Public Safety for students in our community. I’ve encouraged all high school students to submit a 500-word essay on a workable solution for making Barrie a safer community from acts of vandalism and crime. The student who submits the winning essay will receive the Barrie Public Safety Scholarship award, worth $500.00.  The scholarship is judged by Police Chief Frechette and local school trustees and councillors.

I want this project to encourage our youth to take an active role in safety and security solutions for our community.  It is important that public servants find new ways to engage our young citizens on how to promote justice within our community.

Conclusion

Canadians can trust this government to get things done. We are working closely with law enforcement leaders to achieve the required reforms to the criminal code.
I held a town hall meeting with Chief Frechette on crime leading up to the last federal election and I remember him telling me that the criminal code was so weak that he compared it to a ‘revolving door.’  Hard working Barrie police officers would bring criminals into court and see them walk out the next day or released shortly afterwards.  It has been your government’s mission to clean up the system and put an end to the days of revolving door justice.   I truly believe that we are making progress towards that goal.
Our philosophy in Ottawa is that we need to foster a greater level of tangible deterrence in sentencing and an enhanced sense of personal accountability for those that break our collective trust.  This government believes that enough is enough. We deserve to feel safe within the confines of our own neighbourhoods.  This government will act.  We will not cuddle criminals.  We will not waiver in convictions.
We are creating a criminal code that will fully, hold accountable those amongst us that don’t respect the rule of law and dignity of human life.
This Government will continue to deliver on what is important to Canadians – the safety and security of their communities. As Prime Minister Harper recently stated in a speech to victims of crime, “We believe that no Canadian should ever be afraid to walk down any street in our country, ever be afraid to walk down the hall of their school, no innocent Canadian bystander should ever be collateral damage in a gang shootout, no Canadian woman should ever fall victim to a paroled serial rapist, and no Canadian family member should ever die in a car accident caused by repeat drunk-drivers or street racers. The idea of peace, order and good government was once our birthright in this country. It can be again. That is our goal…”

Thank you.

Typhoon Fengshen struck the Philippines recently taking many lives and devastating hundreds of families.  As a result a seven story ferry caught in its path capsized and turned upside down trapping and killing most of the 750 passengers aboard.

The Typhoon set off landslides and floods, knocked out power and blew roofs off homes. People were swept away and died in flash floods while others faced evacuation because of neck-deep waters that rose even further with a high tide.

Many within our community have friends and family in the Phillipines that have been left homeless, without food or water and require our aid.

I am writing today to let you know if you are able to help you may deposit your donation to the Red Cross as follows:

Metro Bank, Port Area Branch (dollar account)
The Phillippine National Red Cross
Account # 151-2-151-00218-2
Swift Code: MBTC PH MM

If possible (so they are able to confirm and acknowledge your donation) please send a copy of your transaction slip/deposit slip by e-mail to:

Ms. Charina C. Bognalbal
OIC, Fund Generation Department
charina.bognalbal@redcross.org.ph

They suggest you indicate on this slip where you wish your help to go. You may want your donation to be spent on relief items or perhaps shelter as the Red Cross also provides rehabilitation programs for victims including roofing and housing.

Best regards,
Patrick Brown MP Barrie

Mr. Speaker, I stand in the House today to congratulate local high school student Joshua Whittingham, who was awarded a $500.00 cheque for winning the Barrie Public Safety Scholarship Essay Contest.

Maintaining a low crime rate has always been a Barrie trademark.  This essay contest is a way to educate our youth on the best ways to maintain Barrie’s life style as a safe community. I created this scholarship to help students finance post-secondary education costs.

I would also like to congratulate Algonquin Ridge grade 4 student Meaghen Lavallee-Trobak, who was the runner up in the contest.

It is important to mention the judges for the essay contest: City of Barrie Councillor, John Brassard; Chief of Police, Wayne Frechette;  Simcoe County Board of Education Trustee, Diane Firman; and Simcoe Muskoka Catholic School Board Trustee, Connie Positano.

Opportunities such as this would not have been made possible without the support of local business in Barrie such as Positano Paving, who co-sponsored of the scholarship.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to thank all the students who participated in this contest. It is encouraging to know that we have so many bright minds in Barrie and that our youth cares about the local community.

Barrie – MP Patrick Brown , Councillor Jerry Moore and Police Chief Wayne Frechette hosted a Justice Town Hall Meeting last Saturday.

The meeting was a focused discussion on what the city is doing to reduce crime and what can be done within the community to complement it. The Youth Criminal Justice Act in particular was a topic of discussion as members of the community had the opportunity to voice their concerns and ask questions.

“This meeting really gave Barrie residents the opportunity to voice their opinion about the youth criminal act which is coming up for review by the Justice Committee” said MP Brown.

All recommendations made at the meeting will be referred to Justice Minister Rob Nicholson.

Some of the issues addressed were:
• establishing more targeted approaches to the use of custody for young people
• improving the system’s ability to rehabilitate and reintegrate young offenders
• increasing the use of community-based sentences for non-violent youth crime
• establishing special measures for violent offenders that focus on intensive supervision and treatment.

Mr. Patrick Brown (Barrie, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise and participate in the debate on Motion No. 466, which asks the government to continue to engage in the anti-doping movement and encourage other nations to ratify the UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport.

Our government takes pride in its commitments to sport in our country.

In this, an Olympic year, our government announced, in budget 2008, $25 million for the torch relay in 2010 to help support its voyage through 350 communities across Canada. In addition, we also announced $24 million over the next two years and $24 million per year ongoing to support the road to excellence program for our summer athletes.

Canada acknowledges the importance that sport must play as a way of promoting education, health, development and peace. We are aware that doping in sport is practised by a minority of athletes, but that it also has a serious impact on the public image and integrity of sport.

The use of prohibited substances and methods designed to enhance athletic performance is a great threat to sport today. It not only destroys the notion of fair play and the pleasure of sport, but also undermines the health of athletes and often does irreparable damage to the credibility of sport.

In March 2003, 51 governments, including Canada, undertook to develop an international convention against doping in sport by adopting the Copenhagen declaration against doping in sport. Since then, 192 governments have signed the declaration. In so doing, those governments, like ours, underscored their desire and commitment to eliminate doping in all its forms, by developing an international convention that would make it possible to coordinate global anti-doping efforts and to offer an international structure for supporting governments’ anti-doping measures.

This convention was also designed to recognize and support the World Anti-Doping Agency and thereby the principles of the world anti-doping code and international standards. It was drafted and approved in a little more than two years, and the necessary “30 states parties” to ensure the convention’s implementation was reached slightly more than one year later.

According to UNESCO, this convention was implemented sooner after its adoption than most other conventions, which shows just how important anti-doping in sport is to nations around the world.

Canada is particularly proud of the leadership role it has played in the development of UNESCO’s International Convention against Doping in Sport, in particular, by chairing meetings of the international expert panel that developed the convention. Canada is also proud that it was one of the first countries to ratify the UNESCO convention.

This speed in ratifying the UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport reflects the political effort and commitment of governments around the world to work in close cooperation with the Olympic movement to fight doping in sport.

UNESCO emphasizes that governments and sports organizations have complementary responsibilities for preventing and fighting doping in sport. In particular, they must ensure that sports events are conducted in a spirit of fair play and protect the health of those who take part in them. Canada subscribes to this without reservation.

The UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport also confirms the current practice for funding the World Anti-Doping Agency, through equal funding by governments and the Olympic movement. Canada makes an annual contribution to funding of the World Anti-Doping Agency. In fact, our contribution is the largest of all national governments.

The UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport is the means by which international governments can get involved in the anti-doping movement and show their support for the World Anti-Doping Agency, the world anti-doping code and international anti-doping standards.

To date, 79 countries have ratified the UNESCO convention. Canada was one of the first to do so in addition to being the first country to contribute to UNESCO’s fund for the elimination of doping in sport, the voluntary fund, which makes it possible to assist less developed and developing countries.

Canada is one of the international leaders in anti-doping in sport. Our commitment is internationally recognized and our expertise, through the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, is sought after around the world.

The International Convention against Doping in Sport must be a priority for all governments if we want to achieve the ultimate objective of clean, fair, competitive sports around the world. Our government therefore urges non-signatory countries to acquire the necessary tools to join the ranks of convention signatories.

Our nation will play a front line role in encouraging and assisting non-signatory countries in doing so and, in addition, urging other countries to contribute to the Fund for the elimination of doping in sport, the voluntary fund, as they are financially able to do so.