I'll try to be brief, considering the committee's time.
I think what Mr. Harris attempted to do was to more accurately reflect what is going on in this piece of legislation. I think the name is no longer accurate.
We'll be voting against the name of this bill because it is inaccurate. It doesn't do what the name suggests, which is ending the long-gun registry; it does so much more.
We haven't heard a single counter-argument from the government in terms of the concerns we've raised here today. I would be more content if the government had actually brought some of their own information, their own facts, to present and say “We are voting against this amendment because of the following...”. All we've heard is that they were voting against this amendment, period. It seems a shame that when government seeks an ideology, they're at times blinded by that ideology.
I had hope over experience in this committee meeting, Mr. Chair, and my hope was that reason could prevail. The government is entitled to their opinion but not their own facts, and the facts as presented by New Democrats here today clearly point out some critical flaws in this piece of legislation.
Yet the government sees this bill as perfect, immaculate, and not a period, not a comma, should be changed. When we presented some serious concerns from victims groups, from the police, whose work we all respect and honour, even that evidence meant nothing to this government.
The previous bills that were once moved by Madam Hoeppner and this government had stipulations in them to prevent the proliferation of guns. They were outlined and they were declared by the government itself. Yet somehow they've learned that some new piece of information says there's not a risk any more, as it was a risk last year, the year before, and the year before that.
It seems to me that this government ran on a mandate to end the long-gun registry. That is correct, and that's how politics works. But it didn't run on a mandate to do this.
I was able to support the previous mandate to end the registry, which I did, as the honourable members will know. But I can't support this. I can't be associated with something that law-abiding gun owners don't want to see done. There's no law-abiding gun owner any of us represents who would want to see more sniper rifles in Canadian society, or more urban combat weapons. That's not what this is about. When did it become that kind of debate?
There have been some mistakes made. I hope the mistakes were unintended. The government didn't design a bill that would allow urban assault rifles to be more easily acquired by organized crime. That's clearly not what the government should be doing, and I hope that's not what they've done. Yet when we tried to correct the measures the government has introduced here today, they were unthinking, unwilling to even have the conversation.
Guns are perhaps one of the most emotional issues we deal with as parliamentarians, on whatever side of the debate you fall. We must find ways to remove that emotion and look at the facts as presented.
This bill, as presented, opens up a dangerous precedent for our society. Now there will be political consequences for the government doing it, and I am loath to attempt to predict that. That's not my concern. Those consequences pale by comparison to the consequences to public safety.
Is this government doing something here today they will later most seriously regret? You cannot suggest that allowing more sniper rifles into society or more assault weapons into society somehow has no consequence, that everyone will buy those weapons, secure those weapons, transfer those weapons, without any record or acknowledgement, any verification that the person is allowed to actually have the weapon and there will be no consequences to it.
A mistake is being made here today, and it's a potentially deadly mistake. I can only plead that as we move the very final stages of this bill into the Parliament that the government reconsiders, because they're associating themselves to something that's very nefarious.
Thank you, Chair.