Mr. Speaker, I did not concur with the hon. member's request, not because I am opposed to questions, but because the debate had already begun, the rules for had been laid down and there was not to have been any question period.
I am pleased to again speak to Bill C-51. As my colleagues have had the opportunity to examine this omnibus bill in the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, I will devote the time allocated to me to raising certain aspects covered by the bill.
First of all, I would like to take a few moments to make a progress report on the work in committee.
In his speech at second reading, my Bloc Quebecois colleague from Berthier—Montcalm placed heavy emphasis on the importance of committee work. He indicated that, when analysing an omnibus bill, parliamentary institutions needed to be efficient.
Too often, committees fall victim to obstruction by the party in power. I have some knowledge of this, for I sit on the Standing Committee on Human Resources Development. We are aware that the government and the Liberal MPs sitting on this committee do not want us, first of all, to address the impact of the Employment Insurance Act. In fact, the opposition parties have formed a strong coalition calling for an emergency debate on the impact of the Employment Insurance Act.
Along with my colleague, the hon. member for Berthier—Montcalm, I deplore the fact that there is systematic obstruction by the Liberal MPs who sit on the committee. When an omnibus bill is what is being studied, a bill as complex and detailed as this one, one may well wonder about the quality of work that is going into it.
I described this omnibus bill as a tutti frutti bill when I spoke on it for the first time. It contains a number of amendments to the Criminal Code. It is a bill that goes in a number of different directions and affects a number of different aspects of the Criminal Code.
Nevertheless, the sessions of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights on Bill C-51 went off very well, according to what my colleague from Berthier—Montcalm says. Despite the committee members' rejection of the amendments proposed by the Bloc Quebecois—I will return to this point later—we did enjoy some healthy discussions on the amendments proposed by the Minister of Justice.
The Liberal MPs must not have any illusions, however. As I have said, committee work is too often obstructed. We ought to reflect upon the necessity of calling meetings when the dice are inevitably loaded in advance, when there are foregone conclusions. Consensus in committee is a rarity.
There are discussions, of course, but the outcome is known in advance. The government rarely makes use of the recommendations made by the various parties, particularly when the opposition parties have reached a consensus.
It is very rare for the party in power to adopt suggested directions, although these would often be beneficial to the entire population.
The members of the opposition have to roll up their sleeves and jump back into the fray. I believe one has to have a hard head when one really believes in an amendment like the one we would like to see in this omnibus bill. One has to be determined.
It is not always easy to get across to the Liberal government that it is not on the right track. We are very much aware of the example the Prime Minister gives to his troops by his arrogant attitude and his refusal to ever go back on what he has said, even if it is something incomprehensible, as it often is, and not in the public interest.
I believe the Prime Minister often sets a poor example for his troops, and does not show them frankly and honestly how to carry on debate.
It is not always easy to get this government to listen to reason, this government we would describe as arrogant. One has to keep at it, sometimes even drawing a picture when that is what is needed.
This is the spirit in which the Bloc Quebecois has carried out the mandate entrusted to it by Quebeckers since it was first elected in 1993. We have confronted the House of Commons head on, in order to defend the interests of Quebeckers. We worked exceedingly hard to move the heavy Liberal machine, which, as we say in Quebec, is too often asleep at the switch.
Propelled by this desire to change things, very early, along with the member for Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île-d'Orléans and other members from the Quebec City area, we started a crusade to enable cruise ships to operate their casinos on the St. Lawrence.
It may seem banal, but this amendment will have a significant economic impact for the Quebec City area, as I will explain during the course of my speech.
The cruise industry represents several million dollars to our region. In fact, on average, tourists each spend about $110 per visit. Given that each ship has between 1,000 and 1,500 passengers, it is not hard to imagine that a significant increase in the number of calls by these ships in our ports will have a strong economic impact on our communities.
However, this increase will not be possible unless the needs of the passengers on these ships are taken into account. At the moment, many of these tourists enjoy casino cruises, and casinos are increasingly popular with people on cruises. In an effort to respond to the demand, ship owners provide casinos for their clients.
Up to now, Canadian law limited the expansion of the Quebec tourist industry that depended directly on the influx of cruise ships. Since the Criminal Code prohibited the operation of casinos from Anticosti Island on, a number of carriers did not call in Quebec City.
The legislation provided that the casinos had to be closed at Anticosti Island and before the port of Quebec City. This meant two or three days where the casinos were closed on the cruise ships. So their stay was considerably reduced in order to not upset passengers. The situation does not occur in international waters, because access to ports is direct.
The effect of this prohibition was to slow down the economic growth of the Quebec City region, a slowdown it did not need. Because of the Criminal Code provisions, the number of ships that stop over in Quebec City every year has dropped by about 25. This creates an economic shortfall of several millions of dollars.
It is for this reason that the members in the Quebec City region and the member for Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île-d'Orléans have been waging such a battle on this important issue of being able to operate casinos on cruise ships. It represents $2.5 million in lost tourism dollars every year in the Quebec City region. This is why the industry has been after the government for so long to amend the legislation.
The member for Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île-d'Orléans introduced a bill in 1997 to remedy the situation. All the members for the Quebec City region supported his efforts, of course.
Faced with the government's apathy and its refusal to take action, the member introduced his bill again in 1998, hoping to bring about changes for the economic benefit of the Quebec City region. After much pressure from the industry and from Bloc Quebecois members, the government finally woke up—it did not have much choice—and realized, after many years of listening to our arguments, that the situation could not go on and that something must be done. It had no choice but to act or look like it was dragging its heels.
That is why we have been hounding the government since we were elected in 1993, and we know that industry representatives have been doing the same for ten long years. The government had no choice but to introduce this amendment authorizing casinos on cruise ships sailing on the St. Lawrence River.
Although the government has finally decided to take action, it must not be forgotten that its lethargy has cost the Quebec City region dearly. Too many years went by before the Liberal machinery finally decided to do something. Today, we applaud this legislative change allowing gambling on international cruise ships.
There are many other areas where the federal government's lethargy is having a detrimental effect. Gambling on cruise ships is but one example, and consideration of Bill C-51 has helped us identify more examples of this government's lack of political resolve.
In introducing her bill, the justice minister was proud to announce she was out to control the activities of organized crime. And then she proceeded to introduce a change to the accelerated parole review process under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act.
First of all, let us make it clear that the Bloc Quebecois has for some time been condemning the absurdity of the accelerated review process. My colleague from the Bloc Quebecois, the hon. member for Berthier—Montcalm, repeatedly questioned the Minister of Justice, asking her whether she thinks it is right for a major drug dealer like Joseph Lagana, who laundered nearly $47 million, to get paroled after serving only one sixth of his sentence.
The Bloc Quebecois did not simply question the justice minister on this issue, it also proposed solutions. Indeed, my colleague, the hon. member for Charlesbourg, presented a bill to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act to deny high-profile drug dealers access to an accelerated parole review. The amendments proposed by the hon. member not only addressed organized crime, as the minister proposes in her bill, they also went beyond that to encompass conspiracy and money laundering.
The solutions of the hon. member for Charlesbourg were even submitted to the justice committee as an amendment to Bill C-51. We know what happened; the Liberal majority rallied around the minister and refused to pass them. This refusal is typical of the Liberal government's lack of courage as far as money laundering is concerned. If the minister really wanted to deal with this dangerous problem, she would follow up on the Bloc Quebecois proposals.
Among the recommendations were the withdrawal of the $1,000 bill. In our opinion, this is an extremely sensible proposal. What we are asking of the government is very simple: not to issue any more $1,000 bills. That would have a direct effect on money laundering.
Obviously, it will take this government a few years to understand, just as in the case of amendment for the cruise ships, that Canada is a money laundering centre. It will take the government even longer to realize that having $1,000 bills in circulation helps the cause of money laundering.
The Liberal government cannot be pushed. It prefers a step by step approach. It does not appreciate our telling it what to do, even when what is needed is obvious.
The government, which we consider arrogant, wants to seem to be taking initiatives, although we have long been proposing solutions. Despite this strange situation, the Bloc Quebecois has not given up. We will continue to ride this government to get it to act rather than remain complacent.
We have introduced private members' bills to get things moving.
I know something about this because I myself introduced two private member's bills. Both were rejected by the Minister of Justice, even after I had devoted a great deal of effort to raising awareness among stakeholders. There was a great deal of support for my bills, and several members here in the House were behind me.
Faced with this situation, the Liberal government had no choice but to proceed, but it took all the credit. It turned it into a government bill and made us wait two years for the amendments to the Criminal Code, instead of giving credit to members who have the public's interests at heart. One amendment involved sex tourism; it would have made it an offence to engage in sex with children in another country. The other had to do with genital mutilation of African girls who are now Canadian citizens.
I worked very hard on these two bills and they were rejected by the then Minister of Justice.
After much pressure from stakeholders and from members, the Liberal government finally caved in and agreed to amend the Criminal Code, because it had no choice.
We are not about to give up. After a careful review of a situation, we do everything we can to bring about the amendment of legislation that is outdated or contrary to the public's interests.
The Bloc Quebecois has the interests of Quebeckers at heart.