Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the member. I think he has a very good understanding of the whole issue of organized crime.
I have a comment as well as a question. My comment refers to the comment made by the member regarding the $200 million the minister plans to spend on implementing this legislation. We know how good the Liberal government is at estimating costs. Members will certainly remember that the government had estimated that firearms registration would cost some $125 million or $135 million, and perhaps up to $150 million. These costs have now reached nearly $800 million, which is a conservative estimate, and only 75% of firearms have been registered in Quebec.
The government said that the system would be self-funding after initial registration. Now we are talking about recurring annual costs of $150 to $200 million. So we have every reason to question the figures mentioned.
I think the minister threw this $200 million figure at us to try to impress us. However, the opposition, which does its homework, can very well see that $200 million to implement this type of legislation—when we know that each investigation may cost $5 million, $6 million or $10 million if it is complicated—is clearly not enough.
My question deals with the idea that the mere fact of belonging to a criminal organization should be a criminal offence. Does the member believe, as does the Bloc Quebecois, that the bill should be amended in that regard?