Mr. Speaker, I have heard all the speeches so far and it is a very good debate. I am a big fan of private members' items. I was interested to know a little bit of the history which was provided about the number of times this issue has come up. We have a history with regard to the charter and about, as the member who just spoke referred to, the early drafts in consideration.
It is not one of those cut and dry issues. There were reasons why those who drafted the charter felt that there were other considerations.
What prompted me to rise is perhaps to point out how sometimes things that are said in debate tend to be explained in a way or presented in a way which would paint a particular picture, but maybe not be totally reflective of the facts and in fact all of the facts painting another picture.
To give an example, the member who just spoke referred to some farmers who tried to sell their crop across the border and were arrested and thrown in jail.
I remember that case. I happened to be the parliamentary secretary at the time to the then minister of public works and government services who also had responsibility for the Canadian Wheat Board. This happens to be under the Wheat Board and the House has dealt extensively with Wheat Board issues because the current government wants to disband the Wheat Board. It just wants to throw it away.
I did a lot of work to understand the history and why the Wheat Board was there. It was the fact that without a Wheat Board, that meant that those who had to transport their product a lot farther than others would not have the accessibility to the same kind of profitability from the existing markets.
The Wheat Board is an interesting issue. To be relevant to the debate in terms of property rights, the member did say that they tried to sell their grain in the United States and they were thrown in jail. That was not the case.
In fact, they were in violation of the rules of the game under the Canadian Wheat Board Act. They were charged with violations. They were charged, there were a number of them, and they were fined. The member will know that. They were fined for violating the rules of the Wheat Board. Two of them decided they wanted to make a demonstration and decided they would not pay the fine. Therefore, the consequence of that, if they did not pay their fine, was that they had to serve some time in jail. That is a little bit different than saying they tried to sell their grain and they were thrown in jail. That is not true; they were fined.
The member talked about the poor gun owners, for example, who have these legally owned guns and they did not hurt anybody, but the government comes up with Bill C-68 which basically identifies guns which are very dangerous, automatic weapons, and all the listed firearms which have absolutely no useful purpose other than to kill people. The member says, “This is my property right. I should be able to have an automatic weapon. I should have an Uzi”.
When we twist it that way, the member knows that even under the existing gun legislation the firearms which are properly fixed can continue to be collector's items and so on, but now the member and the Conservative Party do not want to register long arms. They continue to defer things like that.
The big issue has to do with property in a sense, and maybe others would be considering this, but it would be things like one's land.
One of the members raised the issue of the species at risk and that land could be confiscated. I remember debating that bill. I remember being involved in doing the research, just like this member does with his staff. I do my own.
When we look at it and say here are the species at risk, there are certain habitats within large farms which in fact include designated species at risk. It means that there are protected habitats. It does not mean that the property is totally expropriated. It could be that there is a restriction on the use of certain parts of the property.