Thanks very much, Mr. Chair.
I've been here a while. I'm new to this committee, but I've certainly been on Parliament Hill for a while. I was in Parliament through the years of Mr. Harper's government and certainly at committee we would often receive amendments on even the same day. I appreciate that this time we've had 24 hours to digest the amendments, and we've had time to question, to appreciate our witnesses here and to get answers.
To start, we have spent well over an hour on one amendment. At that rhythm, I'm concerned that with the 145 amendments we have, it would take us through.... On the basis of what Ms. Dancho said at the beginning of this meeting, which was that the Conservatives would agree to the normal committee schedule of four hours a week, maybe making up occasionally for a day when Parliament does not sit—for example, with the Liberal convention this weekend and the Bloc convention in two weeks—at 145 hours and four hours a week, that takes us through to literally October 2024. That's not October 2023. It's October 2024.
I'm concerned about that because it.... I hope this is not a filibuster. I see some indications that it is. Some questions that are repetitive and some questions that are rhetorical. There's some debating that has nothing to do with the bill. That concerns me, because we did manage to adopt one amendment—a long time ago this evening, it seems—that deals with ghost guns, and we know that in some parts of the country the prevalence of ghost guns has increased 1,000% over the past year. That's 100% a month, Mr. Chair, so a delay of a month or two or 18 months, if we're continuing at the same rhythm, is something that, to my mind, is very concerning.
I take it on good faith that this is not a filibuster. I certainly hope it is not. I see many signs that indicate to me that it may well be. I certainly believe that we've all had time to consider the amendments. We've had time to question the witnesses as well and to get answers to those questions, and I think those answers have been very clear.
I'll express my concern, Mr. Chair, that if there is a need to advance on this.... I do understand and I agree with Ms. Dancho that the delay we've had over the last few months was caused by the government tabling amendments that had not been appropriately vetted. That is true, but two wrongs don't make a right. If the Conservatives are then delaying things, in my mind, in a way that means that we can't get to the important amendments and work through them in a forthright way, I'm concerned that we're delaying this bill even longer at a time when the ghost gun provisions are urgently needed by law enforcement and when law enforcement has called for that urgently.
I wanted to raise that concern. As I mentioned, this amendment is very clear to me, and I'll be voting in favour of it.
I wanted to flag two things.
One is that I'm beginning to sense that there is a filibuster, and I hope I'm wrong. Secondly, though, Mr. Chair, I think the idea that we would be restricted to just doing the normal committee schedule of four hours a week at the rhythm we're going right now in terms of amendments simply won't allow the effective consideration and the moving forward with this bill that are required.
I wanted to express my misgivings through you, Mr. Chair, to the committee. Hopefully, we will start moving forward on these things.
Through you, I want to express my appreciation to the witnesses. They've given very fulsome, very complete and very clear answers. I think we should take those answers and, as a committee, be effective in moving forward on this bill.
Thank you.