Mr. Speaker, the member for Wild Rose raises an important question. It is absolutely true. I have seen the same polls and there certainly is that indication.
However, if the hon. member, for example, were to go home and find out that he or his colleague from British Columbia had a wiretap on their phone because somebody suspected they were subversives, I suspect he might be a little cautious and want to know where the evidence was to back that up.
In the abstract, especially after September 11, when people are asked if they are prepared to give up a bit of their privacy in order to be more secure, most people would say that they absolutely are. That is a natural reaction.
However, I would say that it is precisely at times like this that we have to be most vigilant about our liberties. As Tom Berger wrote, those freedoms are very fragile.
I look back at the internment of Canadians of Japanese origin. I look back at the invocation of the War Measures Act. As the hon. member for Wild Rose said, in both those cases there was a huge majority of Canadians who said that it was the right thing to do.
If we govern just by opinion polls, sure we will get those decisions made, but it is important for there be very careful consideration, not just of opinion polls but of the long term impact of those kinds of violations of some of the most basic rights of Canadians.