Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
I appreciate the offer extended by Parliamentary Secretary Moore to committee members. It would have been even more interesting had the government made this offer to the opposition parties at the first reading stage, so that committee members might truly have been able to amend the act.
Since the government only decided to send the bill to committee after debate on second reading and given House procedure, we will not be able to correct the errors contained in the bill. The Liberal Party's position hasn't changed. We are in favour of minimum penalties that directly and effectively target certain criminal offences, particularly offences involving the use of firearms.
However, it has already been demonstrated that minimum mandatory penalties, when used
as a blunt instrument, a sweeping blunt instrument, they can only lead to vast increases in prison populations and a series of unintended circumstances.
We heard testimony. I was not here to hear the testimony, but I read all of the testimony once I was appointed justice critic. I went through all of that, and the testimony was clear and unequivocal: the presence of mandatory minimum penalties often affects how a crown prosecutor lays charges and conducts plea bargains. That's one. Secondly, mandatory minimum penalties, if they're not done in a very targeted fashion, are not effective and actually become counter-effective.
So I find it unfortunate that the government, which wishes to appear to the public as a very comprehensive and listening government, did not make the choice to have this referred to committee at first reading, which would then have allowed the committee to actually do the work.
The government did it, Mr. Chair, with its Clean Air Act. It recognized that its Clean Air Act was fundamentally flawed and therefore acceded to the wishes of the NDP and the two other opposition parties, my own included, to have it sent to committee at first reading. This government could have chosen that; it did not. And in so choosing not to send it to committee at first reading, it literally handcuffed and hampered the ability of members of the committee—including government members, who recognized that there are fundamental flaws in the legislation—to effectively amend it, because the rules are such that we cannot fundamentally alter this bill now that it has been referred at second reading.
So while I appreciate the offer that Parliamentary Secretary Moore has made to the Liberal members, to the Bloc, and to the NDP, and obviously to those of his own caucus who feel there are fundamental flaws with this bill, it's unfortunate that the offer was not made at first reading, when it could have been taken up and would have been eagerly taken up, I'm sure, by all members of this committee.