Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to take part in this debate on Bill C-3, which deals with young offenders.
It is a very important bill because we must never lose sight of the fact that it deals with a key segment of our society, namely our young people who will take our place in the future. Some of these young people may be experiencing problems that bring them into our justice system.
First of all, I want to commend my colleague from Berthier—Montcalm for all the work he has done on this issue. He pleaded his case before the justice and human rights committee for 27 hours non stop, trying to convince the government, trying to get through to the minister who refuses to bring fundamental changes to her bill.
The member for Berthier—Montcalm deserves our appreciation because he has worked hard on Quebec's behalf, with a clear mandate from Quebecers and with a strong desire to protect Quebec's fundamental interests on this issue, which goes straight to the heart of Canada's problem and which brings to the fore the constitutional debate that has been going on in this country for 150 years. We must be conscious of the fact that this debate is now reaching a critical point because it touches a very important aspect of our life as a society. So, again, I commend the member for Berthier—Montcalm for his work.
However, we cannot say the same for the government House leader who, in response to the reaction of the Bloc Quebecois, which is defending itself with the means at its disposal, those permitted under the rules of parliament, i.e. introducing amendments, the House leader who, in his great generosity and foresight—we give him his due—said, and I am reading from an article in the September 23 issue of the Nouvelliste , which was in turn based on a Canadian Press story:
The House leader reacted strongly to the Bloc Quebecois tactics “It is an abuse of the rules of the House. Canadians will not be impressed”.
He estimated that this marathon debate could once again be expensive for the House of Commons, particularly because of the overtime paid parliamentary employees. “It will cost $3 million to defeat the Bloc Quebecois amendments. This abuse of procedure has become almost institutionalized. It is shocking and must be changed. But, in the meantime, it is Canadian taxpayers who are footing the bill”.
It is disgraceful for someone with the responsibilities of House leader to react in this way. He is an experienced parliamentarian. He knows just how helpless parliamentarians and parliament are before government when it wishes to steamroller such a bill through. He knows the weakness of parliamentarians. The only course left to us is to take extreme measures, as the Bloc Quebecois has done in this case, through the member for Berthier—Montcalm, by introducing amendments which will bring home the seriousness of the situation to the public.
The high-minded House leader talks to us of $3 million dollars. How much did the Liberal-generated debates on the privatization of Pearson cost? How many millions? How many hundreds of millions? What was the bill for the whole helicopters and frigates saga? The helicopters are too big for the frigates and the frigates are too small for the helicopters. What did that cost. How many other similar examples can be cited?
Just to enforce this new legislation for the next three years will cost Quebec $69 million, $23 million annually. And the government is worrying us about the $3 million it will cost to defend the Canadian democracy that it is so quick to boast about to other nations.
To reduce the debate to such a level is a total disgrace, given the responsibilities and experience of the government House leader. We should keep repeating that it is unacceptable. He must be desperate to resort to such an argument. It is the logic of the weak.