One of the members opposite says to stop talking and get on with it. We do not have the power to get on with it. They are the ones who are dragging their feet.
In 1988 after the murder of an 11-year-old boy by a convicted pedophile on statutory release, a coroner's jury recommended the creation of a national sex offender registry. That was in 1988, 25 years ago. It is not entirely the fault of the government opposite. I would love to blame the Liberals for the whole thing, but actually they picked up a dead file from the previous government.
Why the reluctance to do anything? We could have had 25 years of information in that registry, but we still have nothing. The Liberals are a disgrace. We look at the people sitting on the opposite side today, getting on with other work, not particularly taking any notice of the debate, doing their duty in the House instead of considering what we could be doing together in a non-partisan way to make the registry really work. As my colleague from Red Deer said, we should be working in a non-partisan manner instead of trying to find ways to make the bill mediocre, which is really what it is right now.
Our recommendation when we discussed this in caucus was that even though the bill contains a half measure, it goes partway toward establishing an effective registry. Over time it will become worthwhile. We decided that we really had to put on the record in this place the objection of the majority of the public to the mediocre nature of the registry, the way it is being set up, and to demand of the government even at this late stage to please show some integrity, creativity and resolve to work on the bill to make it retroactive and to get people on the registry who should be there. Let us get it done.