Madam Speaker, I can only applaud what was said by the hon. member for Halifax, especially her concluding remarks on the issue of gun control. As you know, following certain tragic events, a committee was asked to make a thorough review of this question, but the result was a bill that was a compromise, both in substance and form, since in most cases any action that may be taken will be based on regulations that have yet to be approved by Cabinet or the government. At the time, the minister was able to get a bill through Parliament that could be seen as a major step forward but left the government with considerable discretion in drafting regulations, unlike the previous legislation, and this, we felt, was a major shortcoming.
Not surprisingly, we now have regulations that are largely unsatisfactory. For instance, so-called semi-automatic weapons, which are practically assault weapons, are still sold across Canada. The weapon used at the Polytechnique can still be purchased as a hunting weapon.
I know the Minister of Justice intends to take action. I simply want to point out that he can act very quickly on many aspects of gun control through the regulations, without having to go through the legislative process.
I may add that we would welcome improvements to the legislation itself, especially with respect to the registration of firearms. In the course of our consultations, I met many hunters and groups of hunters who had no objection to firearms registration. And contrary to what was said at the time, especially with respect to the cost, since we register cars and a number of other products, it would not be very difficult to use our current system to register firearms. We both encourage and request the government to act.
Would the hon. member for Halifax support us in our endeavour to get the government to speed up the passage of firearms legislation, perhaps even before the Act comes into effect?