Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Very quickly, I understand what Mr. Harris is saying, but the reality is that we have about 15 hours, which is, in essence, eight to nine meetings of straight time to get this done.
He asks why, and I bluntly have to say, after hearing witnesses' and victims' testimonies, that they want this done, and they've wanted it done for a period of time.
We've gone through six clauses in two hours so far, or thereabouts, and not even substantive clauses. Frankly, these bills and most of the clauses contained within them have been debated for years, in essence, Mr. Chair. We have had many parliamentarians deal with these acts in the past. I'm certain we've had the departments dealing with these matters for thousands of hours. These issues have been dealt with time and time again.
Even Mr. Cotler mentioned that he tried to put forward a bill in 2003 or 2002, which we're now dealing with today, eight years later. We want to get this done, and we're prepared to work at it today, as Conservatives, to get it done, and we're asking for his cooperation to get it done. Let's get at it. We have some time now. We're here to sit down and deal with this matter. Let's deal with the substantive motions. Let's deal with it and do what the people of Canada wanted us to do on May 2. We put our policy platform out there, we put it in front of the people, and they elected a majority mandate.
We're prepared to work at it. We're not pulling the hammer down. We have until midnight tonight. Let's get it done. Canadians want it done, and even if we get it done today, it's still going to take months to get through the Senate and to get royal assent. Canadians have been clear, and victims have been clear, that they want these bills put forward and passed into law.
So although I understand what Mr. Harris is saying, by the time we go through the leadership race of the NDP, we'll have a whole new cast of characters on the other side. We want to get this done. We have 15 hours today, which in essence is eight or nine meetings. Let's get it done, Mr. Harris. Let's do it. Let's deal with the substantive nature of these clauses.