Mr. Speaker, first I want to congratulate my friend from Surrey North who lives in what I think is a very great part of the country as I used to live there myself.
Anyone who knows the hon. member for Surrey North, knows that he does not present private members' bills in a frivolous manner. We all know the hon. member for Surrey North does his homework and his research and for that he has to be commended. I think he is quite an articulate individual in the justice committee, as well as in the House of Commons. He stands up for what he believes in, and it comes from the heart.
What he and his supporters are attempting to accomplish with this bill, and I rank myself as one of those supporters, is preventing more people from being killed. He is trying to prevent the carnage on our highways and in our cities. He is trying to save lives. That is the entire essence of the bill.
If I may digress for just a few minutes, the entire Bill C-68 gun legislation was sold on a bill of goods. We were told that if this one billion dollar legislation, which is a one billion dollar boondoggle, saved one life, then it would be money well spent. If that is the thinking of the government, then why would the government not support the enactment of this legislation because it will save lives and prevent people being killed or seriously injured.
I know I am a member of the NDP Party in Nova Scotia. People may ask why I am singing the praises of this member. It is because I know this individual and he does not bring these things in frivolously. He does his homework.
I know that there will be cross-country support for this. We know Mothers Against Drunk Driving supports it. We know police associations, once they have had an opportunity to digest this information, will support it. We know attorneys general in various provinces support it. Political members of Parliament from other parties support it because it will save lives. Why not give the justice system another tool in its tool box to say to anyone in this regard that thou shalt not street race?
Allow me to read the executive summary of the legislation. It states:
This enactment amends the Criminal Code to provide that “street racing” is to be considered an aggravating circumstance for the purpose of sentencing a person convicted of an offence committed by means of a motor vehicle under section 220 (causing death by criminal negligence) or 221 (causing bodily harm by criminal negligence) or subsection 249(3) (dangerous operation causing bodily harm) or 249(4) (dangerous operation causing death).
In addition, it provides that any person convicted of an offence under any of these provisions by means of a motor vehicle that was involved in street racing at the time the offence was committed be subject to a mandatory driving prohibition, which shall be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed in respect of that offence.
Just going through the summary of it should give qualified support, even if someone is hesitant at all. The reality is drunk driving laws in Canada have increased in severity as we have gone along, not enough for some folks. People like myself would like to see even harsher restrictions on drunk driving laws.
This bill is very similar to that. Why not use this tool to prevent street racing, to give these young people or anyone else who considers street racing something to think about by telling them that if they race and something goes wrong or they get caught, these will be the consequences. I think it is a very rational bill.
Let us look at the financial argument to this. We all know the cost of health care when someone is injured in a motor vehicle accident. If that accident can be prevented, right there we would save money. What about insurance costs? I am sure insurance companies would love to have this type of legislation knowing full well that if it reduces the number of incidents, it will reduce the number of claims they have to pay out.
In fact, this bill associates itself, rightly or wrongly, with a lot of young people who are involved in street racing. I too watched the CBC special about that. I think that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation did a very good job in exposing what happens on our streets, especially late at night in the vacant areas of our towns, as was mentioned by my colleague from Dauphin—Swan River.
The reality is that we in Parliament are here to enact and bring forward this type of debate. That is exactly what the member for Surrey North is trying to do. He is trying to encourage debate and dialogue to see how we can fix the problems within the justice system.
This is one of the concerns he has brought forward. For that he should be congratulated, and we should let him know that we fully support this. If it saves one life, it is a good bill. I suspect that this would save many lives down the road. It would prevent many people from being injured and it would bring more sanity to our streets than is there now.
I can honestly tell the member for Surrey North that he has my full support. I will continue to work with him, in the House or anywhere else, to promote this very fine initiative.