It was important to us to ask the questions because Canadians need to hear the answers.
Unfortunately, we have a 30-minute time limit tonight. We can't ask more questions. In fact, the motion that was passed, motion 13, in the House tonight was in essence muzzling us. Now we can just say yes or no, basically, after this. That's why it's important for me to ask the questions, because a process has been bypassed here. Whether we want to answer the questions or we agree with the premise of the questions isn't really the point. The point is that, as parliamentarians, we have a duty to ask the questions. We have a duty to ascertain as best as we can the answer and we have a duty to find out whether or not an amendment is worth passing or not.
I can agree with you. I can agree with the Liberals in some aspects. Sometimes people were trying to wrap their heads around things and they asked questions in different ways, maybe the same question in a different way. That definitely happened. That is the process we are allowed for a reason, because that is democracy. That is what we're supposed to do here.
Today could possibly be one of my most disappointing moments in this whole process as a new member. Normally I'm not emotional, but I'm tired. Like everyone else, we're worn out. We've been working hard. My 15-year-old asked, when I said goodnight to her, why I was going to committee tonight. I explained to her that we are going to vote on nearly 100 amendments without discussing them, without understanding them, or without, to be even more clear, helping Canadians understand them.
I want to thank our staff. Our staff have worked hard. The folks here, the clerks, the analysts, the translators, the folks behind me, they've been working hard. We've been doing our due diligence on this bill. We've been trying to do our jobs. I get passionate about this because lawful access actually is important to me.
I was told tonight that I wasn't listening to Durham Regional Police officers. I tell you, surely I have, and I've listened to them carefully. Of course. they want to have better tools and they're looking for lawful access, but everyone I've talked to individually when I've explained the process has said they want to get it, but they don't want to get it that way. They want to get it and they want to get it right. That's all we've been asking for.
In this pre-study, we had 48 witnesses in just over eight hours. It was a lot to do very quickly. We had issues with briefs. We didn't get them in time, not because the clerks didn't do a great job. They did a great job. We didn't get them in time, not because the translators were too slow, but because they had a lot of work to do. Why did they have a lot of work to do? We tried to rush too much into too little time. That is not democracy either.
I appreciate very much the members from the NDP, who have been presenting amendments, who gave us amendments to look at.
From the Green Party, Ms. May, thank you, and thank you to the Bloc. All opposition parties, every last one of us, have been working to do this right.
Liberals can laugh. They can laugh at processes. They can laugh at emotions. They can laugh at the passion, but guess what. I came here to do a job, and for the first time in 14 months, I feel like I'm being muzzled and asked to not do my job and to just vote. That is unacceptable.
I will explain to my daughter tomorrow, after this is done, exactly what has happened and how I do stand with the police. She knows I do, as do the Durham Regional Police officers in Oshawa and in the Durham region. I want to give them what they need, but we answer to Canadians, and having a manufactured majority does not give Liberals the right to bypass something so important and to ram this through.
I will leave it there. Thank you.