Regarding our amendment, it is important to mention something. During his press conference, when he introduced Bill C-13, the Minister of Justice clearly said—and is still clearly saying—that this bill was only supposed to legislate a specific issue—cyberbullying. I am referring to a number of provisions here.
It is important to remind the committee that the Minister of Justice said several times that Bill C-13 was not an omnibus bill and that its only goal was to legislate in the area of cyberbullying. I put questions to police associations and, according to them, it was clear that law enforcement should be left up to peace officers.
However, the parliamentary secretary told us that not only peace officers would be in charge of enforcing the new legislation. Military police officers and customs officers would also have that responsibility. What the parliamentary secretary is saying—and I see that he is nodding in agreement—is that the provisions of Bill C-13 will not be used only by police officers, but also by other individuals who have not necessarily received the required training.
Various witnesses I questioned on this issue told me that people who do not have the required training to exercise these powers should not be called upon to do so. I am now worried because we are told that the powers vested in the police will be much wider and will also be exercised by federal public officers covered by the definition of the term “public officers”, set out in section 2.
I am sounding the alarm today. People who are concerned about the exercise of these kinds of powers should know that they will be conferred on all public officers and not only on peace officers.