Madam Speaker, I congratulate the hon. member for Waterloo—Wellington on his remarks and his contribution to the debate. As a former police officer he speaks from a very practical viewpoint, which is extremely important when dealing with matters of criminal justice. He also brings a very non-partisan tone to the debate, which I applaud. It is something that we need more of on matters of criminal justice.
My question for him is with respect to the elements of the bill that would put greater power into the hands of the police to exercise discretion in the field, that is for them to make judgment calls on whether this is a matter which should proceed through the criminal justice system. The police are put in the often unenviable position of making that first call, making the decision on whether it is something for which they lay a criminal charge, lay an information, or perhaps proceed to a crown prosecutor for greater advice.
Does the hon. member agree that increased discretion also carries with it obvious increased time, increased resources and increased necessity of the police to spend time doing something that perhaps they traditionally have not been entrusted with? Does he believe therefore that the requests of the Canadian Police Association, many of the stakeholders and many of the provinces in calling for greater resources to be attached to the bill are on the right track and that his government will have to respond by laying down more dollars?