Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act  Why is it so and why is the Bloc Quebecois against the principle? We are not against equalization, we are against the principle. Within the time allocated to him, could my colleague elaborate?

Public Safety Act 2002  I declare the motion carried. I wish to inform the House that because of the debate on the time allocation motion, government orders will be extended by 30 minutes.

Privilege  I think we spent two or three hours one evening voting on some complex amendments, some of which were passed. However, now that we are at the third reading stage with something similar to time allocation being called, we need to understand exactly what it is we are debating here. It is important we have the opportunity to read exactly what we are here to debate at third reading.

Budget Implementation Act, 2001  I say let them have the dignity of thinking and voting for themselves, whether it is on time allocation or in committee. Let Liberal members get that dignity, then they will earn their salaries. Right now they could all be replaced by a bunch of little pneumatic dolls with little buttons that run a little air pump so that they stand up to vote on command.

Budget Implementation Act, 2001  The government is invoking time allocation to collect a new tax which would be punitive to small carriers, detrimental to our economy and way beyond what is necessary. It is incredible that we want to jam it through parliament when the committee asked for studies and the studies have not been done.

Anti-terrorism Act  If there were ever a piece of legislation that should not have resulted in closure or time allocation, surely to goodness this is the bill. I wanted to raise that issue while I had the opportunity in debate. I only wish the Minister of Justice listened as attentively to the concerns of the opposition on this bill.

Youth Criminal Justice Act  Time allocation is only necessary when the opposition so strenuously opposes a bill that it goes on and on. What the government is failing to recognize is that there is a very solid reason why the opposition is against the bill and the amendment .

Privilege  In this parliament the very first bill, the pro forma Bill C-2, again has been time allocated after a few hours of debate. It is the same government, the same minister, and I would argue the same misuse of authority by using time allocation in this extremely unorthodox way.

Modernization and Improvement of the Procedures of the House of Commons  I have already alluded to the recommendations having to do with ministerial statements and with the timing of committees. The procedure that is recommended with respect to closure or time allocation is a good one. We will see how it works. I hope it will act as a brake on the government when it comes to time allocation. When time allocation occurs I hope the government will provide an opportunity for ministers to justify what they are doing, or at least allow members of the opposition an opportunity to question the appropriate minister.

Privilege  There is time allocation that comes after lengthy debate and there is time allocation that comes after insignificant or insufficient debate. I believe that what we have developed in this parliament, which I think is grounds for the frustration we find here today, is a tradition of introducing time allocation after insufficient debate.

Modernization Of House Of Commons Procedure  But should the government have the right to use a time allocation motion if a bill has not been debated more than 12, 15 or even 20 hours at most? It is not normal for the government to bring forward, after two or three hours of debate, a time allocation motion.

Species at Risk Act  A number of my colleagues have indicated what the biggest problem is with this species at risk legislation, over and above the fact that the government had to bring in time allocation. I would love to go on at great length and talk about the actual bill and the amendments that were put forward, unfortunately time is always of the essence and we are always cut off.

An Act to amend the Criminal Code (cruelty to animals and firearms) and the Firearms Act  Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that because of closure or time allocation we have only a couple of minutes left and I cannot raise many more issues. I am going to go quickly through a couple of things. First I want to reply to the previous Liberal member who spoke.

An Act to amend the Criminal Code (cruelty to animals and firearms) and the Firearms Act  The official opposition supported Bill C-15A, the other half of Bill C-15, and opposes Bill C-15B. Bill C-15A passed through the House without the time allocation and Bill C-15B, according to the government, appears to require time allocation. According to the government and since Bill C-15A is no longer before the House I am not sure of its fate.

Privilege  Minister of Justice is here to give all the arguments and answer the questions of opposition members as to why time allocation is necessary. We will then proceed with third reading debate where we can hear from other hon. members or even the same ones if they have not already spoken at the stage we are in.