Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank our officials for coming back.
Before I pick up where we left off last night, I just want to take a minute to set the stage a little bit.
I think, as I said last time, that all of us are keen to put forward measures to make our communities safe. I don't think there's any disagreement about that. I think that there are different perspectives. We've made it very clear that there are different perspectives on how to approach the topic of gun safety, gun violence and getting guns off our streets. We've all heard from our constituents. We've all heard from folks who are not our constituents. We've heard from Canadians in general.
I have stated, as have my colleagues on this committee, as has the Prime Minister, that there is a willingness, a desire for openness and an intention to make sure that this is the best possible legislation it can be and that we take the time to hear the voices of folks who have either not had clarity as to what this bill contains or have concerns about what this bill does contain.
Part of what I am hoping we can accomplish today with our witnesses is to get some clarity around areas of concern and to, frankly, try to break down some of the myths that may exist around this bill. If we are speaking candidly, we should also find areas where there could be potential room for opportunity. I think this is something from which we would all benefit, and I think all Canadians would benefit.
There has been a lot of work that has gone on to try to do that, but we can always do more.
We've all been very clear that Canadians deserve to feel safe in their communities, but we also need to respect hunters, other law-abiding gun owners, farmers who use appropriate guns to protect livestock and protect their farms and, of course, indigenous communities.
As we take the time to clarify any misinformation regarding the amendment that was presented at this committee on November 22, I want to make sure we do whatever we can. We are all committed to taking down the temperature wherever we can, to listening to whatever perspectives are out there and to having a healthy discussion based on facts.
Today, Liberal members of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, along with the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party, requested two urgent meetings.
I'd like to thank our colleague from the Bloc for having this idea.
Frankly, we have to get in the habit of working together on the committee. On behalf of my colleagues, I would like to thank Ms. Michaud. This will allow us to invite new witnesses to testify before the committee and will allow Canadians to hear from other experts.
Those two meetings will hopefully allow us to hear from witnesses to address any of the outstanding issues that exist, to improve the proposed law where appropriate, to give Canadians the confidence that their government is listening and to give opposition and other parties the opportunity to ensure we are doing our part together to do what was intended in this bill, which was to ban assault-style weapons—