Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
There will not be a serious in-depth analysis of the bill. As Mr. Harris said, the work that's been done, at least on this side of the table, was intended to improve the bill. No one is claiming it's perfect. Indeed, any legal scholar will tell you that nothing in this world is perfect. Even if we adopt this bill with the intelligent amendments that have been proposed by both the members of the official opposition and other members on this side of the table, and the members of the government, we can never completely guarantee that the bill is iron-clad and will never be challenged in the courts.
To my mind, a bill that comprises 208 clauses certainly merits serious clause-by-clause consideration, and not just a single day's examination. If the Conservatives promised to have some bills passed by a set time, that's their problem, that's their promise. That doesn't mean that all of Canadian society should suffer as a result.
Some voices will not be heard. Some amendments have been proposed, but one entire province will not be heard. The Minister of Justice appeared before the committee, which is an entirely exceptional event. I'm convinced that he wasn't all that happy about coming here, since the various levels of government don't like to interfere in the affairs of other levels of government. The minister said it, loud and clear, that some aspects of this bill are inconsistent with the whole way my province, Quebec, handles things, including the Young Offenders Act.
These are not major amendments, but we'll have to clear them at the rate of the high-speed train that we still don't have between Quebec City and Windsor. It's absolutely extraordinary.
There are nevertheless so many clauses that we're in favour of. I could list them all. It's true that, in a single day, we studied only six or seven clauses. One day may seem long to those who are listening to us, but it's not, because it actually consists of only two hours. Examination of some clauses should go a little faster. It should be recalled that we were examining the Combating Terrorism Act, which is extremely technical. Different amendments were proposed to improve the bill. For example, when we look at the act respecting sexual crimes against children, you'll see that we'll adopt the clauses quickly. Dozens and dozens of clauses would thus be adopted very quickly, without any sort of amendment.
The Conservatives want to make sure there's as little time as possible for debate over the weak points of their bill, which will not serve the ends for which it was designed. The Conservatives have quite simply decided to speed up a process that is already very fast. The committee sometimes heard five, six or seven witnesses who each had five minutes, after which the members had five minutes to question them. This could not be more ridiculous, and it's unworthy of a so-called democratic country. It's outrageous. There is no expression strong enough to say what I feel as a legal expert and lawyer who takes her role as a legislator seriously.
The claim is that we're going to consider and examine the bill in the light of the testimonies we've received. In that case, we might as well say that we wasted the public's money by summoning witnesses here. Seriously, I don't think there's one word of what these people said that is going to change anything. There are even groups that the Conservatives were priding themselves on, that approved certain parts but not others. We could actually have demonstrated, by looking at the amendments, that in the end the Conservatives' way of thinking is not unanimous within the party.
As Mr. Harris said, this party, which was elected with the votes of 39% of the population, actually, is trying to ram down our throats a bill containing 208 clauses. This is absolutely crass indecency. Certainly it's the government that will bear the blame when its law is challenged left right and centre. The Crown attorneys and all the members of the Canadian Bar say that this bill poses serious problems. You seem to think that we'll have the time, in the coming hours, to do a serious examination. Personally, I take issue with this process. I think this is absolutely horrible. Still I'm not surprised by a government that has already imposed six gag orders on the House pertaining to substantial bills, such as budgets and other substantive files.
This government says it believes in freedom of expression. But it absolutely doesn't believe in freedom of debate. It quite simply tries to short-circuit the work that the population has asked its members to do.
As Jack Harris said, 103 New Democrats were elected last May 11. Members other than those of the Conservative Party were elected. Nevertheless, the government has decided to silence these voices. It's dreadfully sad. This is certainly a dark day for democracy in Canada.