It is not a red herring. The member opposite said that it is a red herring. That is one of the differences in this country. It is one of the reasons we are judged to be such a well balanced country. We do not knee jerk. We do not have an over reaction or a simplistic solution.
The national data bank proposed in this bill will help police to better protect Canadians. Will it solve all the problems? No. But it is time we used the technology and the modern method of collecting this data to help police do their job. We believe that this may not be a panacea, that in a simplistic world members of the Reform Party might think this would be an easy way to target everybody, to number everybody, to put all their data into a file. I do not want to be an extremist or a radical by using terms like police state because I do not think it applies, but I really think that we have to analyze the benefits and the purpose of data collection.
The Criminal Code already allows police to take a DNA sample from a person at the time of charge or any other time as long as they first obtain a warrant to do so.
If we want to talk about red herrings, let us go back to the debate on gun control which members opposite love to do. The issue they like to fly is that the police will be able to knock on doors at any time they want, day or night, because they suspect the person might have a loaded pistol and want to do a full search. Members opposite know that is not true, yet through their association with the American gun associations and the gun lobby in general they continually put out this kind of information. It gets people all excited and whipped up. We saw the demonstration on the front lawn of Parliament Hill last week.
The amount of misinformation about issues like that is quite astounding. Members opposite know there is a requirement for a warrant to be issued, or you open your door and allow them to come in. There is none of this jackboot mentality where police officers can show up at three in the morning, kick the door down and run into the homes of law-abiding Canadian citizens.
In this case there is a definite comparison. The DNA sample could be taken if permission were granted. Perhaps that issue could be dealt with. Clearly, the sample can be taken if police obtain a warrant to do so. What is involved in the process? The police must go before a judge, a man or woman that I presume the Parliament of Canada has some faith and trust in, to seek a warrant to collect the sample at the point of a charge being laid.
I really believe that innocent until proven guilty is one of the fundamental tenets of democracy and freedom in Canada. That does not mean that in any way whatsoever we would condone or be soft on crime. Quite the opposite. Some of the changes in the justice ministry of this government are absolutely groundbreaking, precedent setting and are saying to criminals that we are not prepared to allow them to take control of our streets and our communities. We are going to be tough.
This bill will put in place a data collection system for DNA samples taken appropriately, taken in fairness and taken in justice. It will ensure that Canada is still a wonderful, safe, free and democratic country but with strict rules. We will fight crime with this legislation and other bills as they are needed.