Mr. Speaker, I want to say a few words to the amendment put forward by the member for Huron-Bruce.
The member had the opportunity to sit through the committee stage of this bill and hear the various witnesses who came forward. Had the member actually been listening to what the majority of witnesses were saying during the committee, he would not have been bringing forward amendments at report stage. He perhaps would have been speaking to the minister directly and encouraging the minister to scrap the bill.
Apparently the member was not at every committee meeting and as a result has brought forward two amendments, both technical in nature. I am sure that in his mind they strengthen the scope of the bill. I ask whether Bill C-94 will be strengthened or improved by these so-called technical amendments. The member knows very well that really the only way to help this area of concern is to scrap the bill, rather than to amend it.
The first amendment makes a change to clause 9. In the clause there is a reference to the record of a controlled substance. In the interpretation section of the bill, controlled substance means a manganese-based substance that is mentioned in the schedule and includes any other substance that contains such a manganese-based substance.
We are made to believe with this bill and with the member's amendments that MMT is hazardous. The government members across the floor know full well that this is not so. When they have the opportunity to vote for this bill at final reading stage, they will not only be voting in favour of bad legislation, they will be saying to the Canadian people that the government can ban a substance even if there is no evidence that the substance is hazardous.
I will close by saying that I could speak for a long time on the disappointing aspects of the bill, but I know that should be kept for third reading and will do so.
The amendments proposed by the member for Huron-Bruce cannot be supported by the Reform Party. While they may change what can or cannot be done with a manganese based substance and when a report should be submitted to the minister, they do not address the fundamental question. Before a substance can be banned, should it not go through a process of independent scientific review?
The bill cannot be improved by one or two amendments. The bill needs to be reworked from scratch if it is to have any credibility in both the industrial sector as well as the environmental sector. Good legislation would propose a predictable process for any substance, not just MMT.
The minister failed and the bill will ultimately be her legacy of another administrative blunder.