Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I don't intend to speak for a long time. I know that Bill C-21, particularly the issue around ghost guns, is something that law enforcement wants to take immediate action on. We need to move forward in a forthright manner.
I have a motion that was circulated to committee for the purposes of today's meeting. I move:
That the committee extend its meeting of May 9, 2023, until midnight for clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-21.
Mr. Chair, I heard yesterday in the House something that I felt was profound disinformation. It was said by the Conservative public safety critic that almost half of the amendments had been considered at committee, and that's simply false. As you know, Mr. Chair, since we started again, we've considered 12 amendments out of 151. You can do the math, as I have, Mr. Chair. I note that, at this rate, we simply would not have this bill back to the House for months.
Why is it urgent? We know, because of the delays.... These delays were caused by what I felt were the Liberals' misplaced amendments, which were done without consultation. Now we have the Conservatives filibustering, so they're also causing a delay. During that time, Mr. Chair, we've seen an exponential increase in the use of illegal, untraceable ghost guns across this country.
The House is seized by an expansion of scope, which will be important, but we need to provide law enforcement with the tools. We need to be targeting criminals. The withdrawal of the amendments means that those who would be targeted by this Bill C-21 are criminals, not law-abiding gun owners. It's important that we move in a forthright way.
I've been raising this issue, as you know, Mr. Chair, for a couple of weeks now, to vastly expand the number of hours. The committee has the ability to do that. I'm proposing that we do just that for the purposes of today's meeting—to meet until midnight.
I hope we can come to a consensus rapidly on this. I don't intend to draw it out if there are members who are opposed, but I do believe that it's an important step that we need to take for public safety. We need to move this bill forward, and we can't do that if it continues to be stuck in the committee.
Since it's taken so long to consider the initial amendments, it's important that we allow more time today for clause-by-clause consideration of this bill. That's what I'm proposing. I hope we have a consensus around this table about the importance of studying Bill C‑21 and passing it to combat the threat of ghost guns. The study has dragged on long enough. Now we need to move forward. That's why I'm introducing this motion.