Yes, possibly it's tomorrow.
I saw bad Liberal policies and bad Liberal laws first-hand. I said that if I'm going to be an instrument of change, I'm going to have to do it as a legislator. I couldn't do it as a public servant for the Province of Ontario. I left.
It has been my number one mandate since my election in September 2021 to be that instrument of change. I had been advocating strongly for four-plus years, pushing the government, making recommendations to the government and actually sitting down with the new justice minister, literally within days, post-election, after our return in the spring. I sat down with him for close to an hour and a half. I gave him a laundry list of ideas that he could use to immediately improve community safety across this country. Steal my ideas. Take them. Call them your own. I don't care. As I said earlier and will say again, community safety ought not be a partisan issue.
Never did I think, as I've been singularly focused on community safety, that as a proud Christian, as a proud Catholic, I would have to defend my faith in the people's house in a G7 country. That's what I'm forced to do today.
I'm absolutely proud and honoured to stand shoulder to shoulder with all my colleagues here today, including a collection of veterans. My colleague Melissa Lantsman and I were elected in 2021, but a lot of new members are stepping up, and will continue to step up, to fight for freedom of expression and freedom of religion.
I think if one thing can be said right now to the Liberal bench, it is that we will never give up. We will be relentless. I will sit until Christmas Eve if we have to, if resources are available. I will sit between Christmas and New Year's Eve. I will sit after January 1, 2026. We will continue to fight for Canadians' right to practise and to preach without fear of this Liberal government's intrusion.
I had the honour, since the announcement of this secretive deal being brokered last weekend, to attend a Catholic mass this morning. It was an invitation from my colleague Garnett Genuis. It was held in the Father O'Sullivan chapel in East Block.
It was to commemorate the celebration of Juan Diego. Juan Diego is remembered as the first indigenous saint of the Americas. The appearance of the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe on his cloak in the 1500s astonished the Aztec people and has inspired centuries of scientific study of the time, with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe today honoured in Mexico City.
As I sat there, I was pondering the homily given by the father, the priest. I listened to scripture read by a layperson. I looked around. I saw not only Conservative colleagues but also Liberal colleagues. Instead of being inspired by the word of the Lord, the first thought that came across my mind was this: Did that priest say anything that could be deemed offensive, that could somehow now attract criminal prosecution?
I say that because our Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, who did a disastrous job with our immigration file, was promoted to the front bench, notwithstanding his vile, extremely offensive comments to any Christian in this country in which he determined that various books in the Bible are, in his words, offensive and worthy of prosecution. I was deeply offended by that.
To echo the words of my colleague Mr. Lawton, we can continue this. We are not going to give up. I think the Liberal bench should know that by now. However, what we can do as a committee is something collaborative and something Canada has been asking for for close to a decade. It's something that I have championed over the last four years.
With that in mind, Mr. Chair, I am resurrecting my motion to prioritize the consideration of Bill C‑14, the bail and sentencing reform act, and ask that we work together to report the bill to the House at the earliest opportunity. I'm seeking unanimous consent at this time.