Mr. Chairman, section 159 in the Criminal Code, almost everyone around the table will concede, has some problems, inconsistencies, and constitutional problems. We all acknowledge that. The question is whether or not we are capable, through the mechanism of this existing bill, of amending and fixing those problems.
If all we had to do was list by reference section 159 in the bill we're studying today, then I would say that's okay, we just have to add it by reference. In effect we would be doing the same thing with section 159 that we're doing with all of the other sections. But that is not what Mr. Comartin's amendment proposes to do now. He is inviting the committee to incorporate the basket of section 159 issues into this bill and fix section 159 that way.
I think this runs into the same problem that the earlier amendments had, which is fairly conspicuously being outside the scope of the existing bill. While many of us wish that weren't the case, the fact is the scope of the bill is what it is, and we can't fix section 159 with this bill without offending that parliamentary principle. That's my view.