Mr. Speaker, I want to say a few words on this topic. I cannot believe that we are taking such mediocre steps to solve what is a very big problem.
I do not know if all the members here have gone through the trauma of having a person in their family murdered. We have and it is devastating. It is absolute abhorrent. It is totally impossible to imagine. If any of us were to imagine that this evening our life might come to an end because someone else would choose to take it, it would give us a perspective on this problem that is quite different.
We need to pay very close attention to what we are talking about and that is the gravity of the situation. We need to send a message loud and clear that cannot be mistaken, that in our society, in our country, it is not acceptable to contemplate and to actually carry out the taking of the life of another person. If that message does not come through, then I do not know what does.
I am aware of the fact that we cannot pass a law that will make people good. I do not think that is possible.
The purpose of the law is to restrain those who are not good. The purpose of the law is to say to that person who is contemplating the act of first degree murder that the person is going to have to say: "If I do this, there are big consequences for me". Right now in Canada those consequences are inadequate.
We are talking in this bill about the question of first degree murder, contemplated, carried out deliberately. I urge members, especially the Liberal members, who are the ones who can do something about this, who are the majority in the House, they are the people ones who can say by voting correctly on this bill we want to send that message. We want to protect society. We want to protect the lives of law-abiding citizens.
Failure to do so is failure to exercise our responsibility as parliamentarians to do what is right in protecting law-abiding citizens in this country.