Mr. Speaker, in my opinion, and on behalf of the Canadian government, this is not a quarrel about jurisdiction but a matter that concerns the safety of Quebecers and Canadians.
Nearly three weeks ago, I went to Quebec City to meet my counterparts and mayors from the Quebec City area to discuss their concerns. They asked for changes in the Criminal Code. Since then I have been trying to respond to this request.
At the Department of the Justice I have set up a special task force to deal with this matter on an urgent basis. We have now reviewed and examined all the alternatives for making criminal legislation more effective and more powerful in order to help police forces in their fight against organized crime.
That is our objective, not these quarrels about jurisdiction between various levels of government. We genuinely want to deal with the core issue which is about making Canadian laws more effective so that we can help our police forces.