Mr. Speaker, may I first observe how welcome it is to hear the hon. member asking about a new and important subject.
Last spring, when the private member's bill was before the House, there was in effect a free vote on the question of whether it should go to committee. It went to committee. Shortly afterwards I wrote to the chair of the committee and asked that the committee arrange to have hearings on the bill early on. Those hearings were started just after the House resumed in September.
I have urged the committee to look at the question of section 745 in the broader context of penalties for murder. I hope it does that. I also hope to have something to say to the committee before it completes that deliberation on the whole subject so that we can see the issue in context.