Mr. Speaker, I certainly do appreciate the positive reception that the private member's bill has inspired from all sides of the House. As we continue debate, I will be listening very intently to the interventions from the justice critics opposite.
As to the issue presented by the hon. member, when we looked at the situation before, the specific role of the RCMP was not put into the other form, yet it was still part of the fact that they were police officers. Because it was that way in the bill, that was the reason for putting both public officers and peace officers in the description. That is the rationale we had for it.