That didn't really clarify much, Mr. Noormohamed, but thank you.
I don't want to talk about what's coming, but the Liberals have tabled several amendments to Bill C‑21. It's curious, since this one came from the government. If this bill had been so good when it was introduced, the government wouldn't be making so many amendments.
As my colleagues mentioned earlier, there is a legislative and democratic process. We knew that the main purpose of the bill was to ban handguns, so we invited experts to appear before the committee to give us their position and explain why it was a good idea or not, and we talked a lot about handguns with them.
Now the government is proposing amendments to deal with semi-automatic weapons and hunting rifles. If we had known that the government was interested in these weapons, we would have invited experts to come and talk to us about semi-automatic weapons and hunting rifles. We would have had some indication of which models should or should not be on which prohibition list. We would have had some guidance on how best to legislate.
At this point, Mr. Chair, I must admit that we were caught off guard. That's unfortunate, because we're learning it as the public has learned it, and we're trying to navigate by sight, which isn't easy.
There are a lot of things I'd like to say, so I'm having a little trouble getting my head around it.
I would like to reassure the people in my riding and in Quebec who write to me and my fellow members of Parliament a lot about their concerns. We didn't really expect this when we saw the original wording of the bill. We need to look at what's in there and ask questions before making decisions.
The Bloc Québécois' position has always been clear: we want better gun control in Canada. I think that's ultimately what everyone wants, for our cities and neighbourhoods to be safer. There are various ways to do this. Is G‑4 the right solution? I would tend to say no, but it will have to be debated.
So we're going to try to make sure that people aren't disappointed in us. Obviously, we can't please everyone. I know a lot of people are concerned about this bill. It's a very emotional issue. I think my colleagues would agree that it's not always done in a polite way, as we see on our Facebook pages, but I can understand that people feel concerned. So we will do our best to debate it.
Personally, I would like to know which firearms that are already prohibited will be included in the schedule and which non-prohibited ones will be included. Second, of the non-prohibited ones, I would like to know which are hunting weapons that are commonly used in Quebec and Canada. That would help me make a decision.
I would also like to know what will happen to people who have guns that are going to become prohibited overnight. We've heard about a buy-back program, but it's still not confirmed. People have told me about weapons they had before the May 1, 2020, order that they still own. They know they have been illegally in possession of this gun since the order in council came into effect, but they have never heard from the government about what to do with it. Should they turn it over to a police officer or the government? No one knows. We also don't know what will happen to these weapons that they want to ban. It would be beneficial for us to know that, so that we can also reassure our constituents.
As I said earlier, we support better gun control. To be honest, I don't see why anyone should have a military-style assault weapon in their basement. That's not the way it should work. However, I don't see why someone who hunts should be prohibited from doing so.
I don't know if you had any other speakers on your list, Mr. Chair. I'll give my place to my colleagues and speak again a little later.
Thank you.