Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Mississauga South has an amazing capacity to zero in on some important aspects of every bill that comes before this House. Clause 15(1) is one of those.
We were chatting earlier about this. I do not pretend to have the definitive answers on this. However, I believe the member raises a good point, that at a committee the witnesses from the department could elaborate on this.
What I would think is driving this section is when there is a process which certifies that these diamonds are coming from a certain area, then that process is like an ISO process. There has to be sterility in the process. There has to be the confidence that if a container is certified as containing diamonds, that container has been certified through the Kimberley Process. If the container has been opened, that challenges the sterility of that container. Maybe there have been conflict diamonds or blood diamonds mixed in with others. Perhaps someone with very bad intentions has done that deliberately. This is something that would not be tolerated.
This is where the government often wants to leave the minister some discretion. For example, maybe the container came through a tornado or a hurricane, a bolt of lightning hit the container, it burst open and this was visible to all who were present. If that discretion was unavailable to the minister, even though there was no concern about the legitimacy of these being Kimberley processed certified diamonds, the minister would be in the position of having to send them back.
I think the drafters have probably been quite astute in leaving the minister some discretion. However, he member for Mississauga South raises some very important points additionally, and that is the recourse. Is it enough only to say that the container goes back? It like coming across a crime and saying that we do not have to report it. We take the drugs and guns away and do not bother with it any more. I am sure that is not the intent. I am sure there are many more subtle things going on here than the wisdom that I have on this legislation.
I know the committee will examine this in great detail. Whatever we do, it applies to the comments I made earlier about a duty free zone and the question about sterility. We have all heard about a bonded warehouse. I use sterility in that sense, not in the sense that some members might think.
It is very important to have the controls to ensure that if duties and excise taxes have not been paid, this area must be controlled and sterile. The same principles apply here. If a person has a container that says they are Kimberley processed certified diamonds, then the container cannot be opened. It can only be opened under very controlled conditions. Otherwise, someone could mix in some of the other diamonds.
Then what assurance do we have? It is like an ISO process that has to be absolutely disciplined and rigorous so people who are buying that container have 100% confidence that those diamonds are the right ones, that they are not conflict or blood diamonds. They are uncut diamonds from Canada from the Northwest Territories or Ontario, and they have been tightly controlled so they will not be mixed in with other diamonds that would be a concern to the purchasers.
I am sure the section will be examined in some detail at committee.