Madam Speaker, we have heard quite a bit today, but I would like to ask my colleague from Kootenay—Columbia to elaborate a little more on one of the issues he touched on, the issue of the rural-urban split that seems to be part of the cruelty to animals legislation.
The parts of the legislation that deal with the disarming of a police officer and some amendments to the gun registry are things we can all support, but the fear that there is a rural-urban split, even if that does exist, should not be there. We must realize that there are codes of practice by which our livestock producers live and have lived. There are no better tenders of animals than they are because their livelihood depends on taking good care of the animals they raise for food for the rest of the world.
As we went through this process, quite a few letters supporting the bill came in from the SPCA organizations in different cities. We were also drawn to the other side by people in the agricultural community who were concerned about some of the aspects of the bill that could harm their practice.
Does the member feel there is a way the bill can be adjusted that would appease the concerns of the people on both sides of the issue? Certainly anybody who harms an animal should face full consequences, but is there any way we can make this work to keep both sides of the argument onside on this issue?