Mr. Speaker, I noted with some interest the way in which there were sections of legislation that were of some concern to my colleague in the Reform Party that were taken by the justice minister when she came forward with the new Young Offenders Act. However, I am sure he must have noticed yesterday the solicitor general deciding that he was going to come forward with legislation, amendments to the Criminal Code, which would red flag people who have received pardons for their offences if those pardons related to sexual offences.
I would imagine hon. members also probably noted that our Reform colleague from Calgary Centre has already had that legislation in its basic form go through the House of Commons. As a matter of fact, there is an argument to be made that the legislation by my colleague from Calgary Centre, in its own way, in many details is superior to the legislation that the solicitor general brought forward yesterday.
It strikes me as being strange, and I ask him if it also strikes him as being strange, that we have legislation that has gone through second reading in the House and which will be before the justice committee this week. Any amendments that the government wants to make to get it into a form that is more to its liking—although the similarities are so close that I can only imagine some tinkering around the edges—could be made and this bill could be reported back to the House of Commons for third reading and passed by the will of the people who represent Canadians in the House.
I wondered if my colleague has any idea why in the world the solicitor general would have simply lifted the Reform Party private member's legislation and put it into the situation where it will likely be delayed. The reporting requirement of sexual offenders who have received pardons will again be delayed, so that Big Brothers, Scouts and other organizations like that will not have this legislation. I wonder if he has any insight into why in the world the Liberals would be ripping off Reform legislation and, in effect, delaying its ability to be passed.