I was genuinely surprised to see the study of the antiterrorist legislation referred to the Standing Committee on Justice. When the Justice and Public Safety Committee were one single entity, we truly felt that this bill was first and foremost the responsibility of public safety officials.
Perhaps the parliamentary secretary can tell us why the government did not deem it advisable to refer this bill to the Public Safety and National Security Committee which generally has less on its plate than the Justice Committee. As you know, six or seven of every ten bills are referred to the Justice Committee for review. Moreover, security certificates are the responsibility of the MInister of Public Security, Mr. Stockwell Day.
Unless we receive new information, I'm tempted to make representations to my party's leader in the House, Michel Gauthier, asking that the process of referring bills to committee be reviewed.
I realize that it's the government's prerogative to select the committee to which it wishes to refer legislation, but could someone explain to me why, in this particular instance, it chose to refer this bill to the justice committee rather than to the public safety committee?