Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this motion. This might come as some dismay to the hon. member opposite, but I do not share that opinion. This is an important part of the process to have embodied in this piece of legislation.
It attempts in a substantive way to keep elected officials in the legislative loop, to keep them as a part of the process and to ensure that arbitrary changes do not occur. The hon. member for Charlesbourg does go about this in an interesting way. One could almost draw from this an inference that the Bloc or the hon. member are supportive now of the Senate's being actively involved in the review of this type of legislation.
The bill in its present form would not allow those members of parliament who are most affected on behalf of their constituents in the changing of the legislation to be directly involved. In the current reading of the bill the solicitor general could bring about a change arbitrarily. He could bring about a change without going through the normal process of review of looking at the legislation and bringing in what might somehow be interpreted as damaging to the entire bill.
I do support what the hon. member for Charlesbourg is trying to effect in this amendment. It is something that I think we all want to encourage. We want to encourage consultation and participation in the process. It recognizes as well the importance of both houses.
Draft regulations are fine. Putting a process in place is fine. But what we want to do here at all times is ensure there is proper review and consultation. Parliamentarians are certainly a necessity and must be consulted when we are reviewing something like this. Let us not forget that this is arguably one of the most important opportunities we in this House have to bring forward a piece of legislation to combat serious violent crime.
The sad reality is that the bill in its current form does not go far enough. It does not allow police officers to use this legislation to the full extent. It does not allow them to arm themselves with an investigative tool to permit them to combat violent crime. It does not allow them to investigate fully and make full use of the technology. We are not keeping up with the rate at which technology is changing.
It also is consistent with the need for transparency and the need for responsibility for those who are entrusted with this important task of changing legislation to have their say, to have the ability to go before committee, to talk to the amendments, to flesh out ideas and to call witnesses if necessary. Therefore they can follow the procedure that has been put in place.
I encourage all members to take a serious look at this legislation, including the member opposite. I encourage them to support this type of change. It would be consistent with the stance that his government has taken to encourage openness and transparency. This amendment does that.
We have to encourage these types of amendments at this point when we are debating them in the House, before they are law, before they are put in place hard and fast. We know when that does occur we will have to go back almost to the start.
It is then a very complicated process to invoke the change. Time is certainly of the essence with this particular bill. The clock is running. Sadly we know that each day in Canada violent crimes are happening. As we speak, violent crimes are being perpetrated across this country. As we speak, police officers are still unable to use DNA to the full extent that they could and which this bill offers them an opportunity to do.
I encourage all hon. members to partake in this process. Support this type of change which will allow members of the justice committee, members of the House on behalf of their constituents and all Canadians to have in place entrenched in this bill a process where they can surely have a voice in any changes that may come in the future with respect to DNA legislation.
We know that this is in many ways the beginning of what may be a very expansive use of DNA. This is something we have to keep in mind. The opportunity is before us. The opportunity is there for all members to partake in this, to seize the moment to put forward a piece of legislation that is going to empower police officers to make the most of this technology.