Mr. Speaker, my colleagues will accept that we will not get a thorough discussion of any element of the bill in three minutes, but I certainly do want to put my views on the record.
I want to recognize the huge effort and investment undertaken by the hon. member for Wentworth—Burlington in drafting this bill and bringing it to the House as an item under Private Members' Business. Some members have noted the procedural difficulties and challenges faced by the hon. member as he brought his bill forward. He has succeeded in overcoming those difficulties and has presented a bill of great importance and complexity for us to consider in Private Members' Business.
It is worthwhile pointing out that this bill was not drafted over months and months by a government department in consultation with other government departments. It was essentially put together by the hon. member himself, in consultation with a number of parties inside the loop. The bill reflects difficulties perceived in the process used for obtaining information from the government.
This government as well as previous governments have accepted the importance of access to information and freedom of information. That template was put in place 10 or 20 years ago and is working reasonably well in achieving the intended purposes, but there are some discontinuities, some obstacles and some ways in which we could make it better.
Reference was made to the penalty sections for destroying documents. I recall the House adopting another private member's bill about two years ago which did put in place penalty sections for destroying documents under this statute. The hon. member's bill recapitulates them and streamlines them.
Someone mentioned that the government may or may not be supporting the bill. I point out for the record that the government refrains, conspicuously refrains, from indicating support or non-support for private members' initiatives and generally leaves matters to members in the House of Commons. That does not mean that government ministers do not, from time to time, indicate preferences and create documents for guidance.
I see, Mr. Speaker, that you are indicating that my three minutes is up. Let me end by congratulating the hon. member for this huge initiative. There will be further debate on the subject.