Thank you.
Minister, you and your PS recently attacked a fundraiser that was hosted in my event, which Pam Damoff just referred to. It was called “Guns and Guinness”. It was a group of responsible individuals who got together, did a clay shootout, and then drove 20 minutes away, after responsibly putting away their firearms, and had a barbecue. At this barbecue, there was alcohol.
Minister, my question is this. You commented in the House just recently and said this with regard to respecting individual autonomy and decision-making:
Before I was 25, I was married. I was the father of two kids by then. I owned a house. I had a mortgage. I was a cop. I carried a gun. I was entrusted with all the powers of a police officer, including the authority to restrict a person's liberty and to use force, perhaps even deadly force. I could buy a drink, and I could smoke a cigarette. That was how I was trusted....
Minister, in this statement, in one breath you associate maturity and therefore the ability to make autonomous decisions with drinking, using a gun and applying deadly force. Minister, to use your words, is it not irresponsible to associate those three things in one statement in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill?