Madam Speaker, I love this, “We are a party of the charter” and then he talks about business.
That is the issue. We get it. We understand the importance of that relationship. The Liberals cannot just brandish the charter, or brandish creating supply management or other things that have happened historically and think it is their get-out-of-jail-free card.
It does not allow the Liberals to escape their responsibilities for how they draft legislation. I do not have a problem with pre-clearance, despite what the member is heckling.
What I have a problem with is legislation that would allow American border guards to carry firearms on Canadian soil. I have a problem with legislation that would allow American border guards to detain, indefinitely, people who will likely be profiled for their religion and the colour of their skin.
I have a problem with the fact that while we have hard-working men and women in the CBSA, that somehow we feel we need to give these extra powers to American agents and we will look the other way.
The Liberals tell us that we do not have to worry, that they are the party of the charter and nothing will go wrong. That is just not something we find acceptable.
I am surprised the member, who likes to accuse the Conservatives and New Democrats of always seeing the world in black and white, is saying that we are against pre-clearance. We are not against pre-clearance. We are against giving Americans unfettered rights to operate on Canadian soil when we know right now there is a president in the White House who wants nothing more than to see his border patrol detain people just because he does not like the way they look or the religion they practise. For New Democrats, that is completely unacceptable.
I would like the member to explain to me why he believes that collecting tombstone data from page two on passports to make all these great savings for EI and OAS is good for business. It is not for business. It will hurt some of the vulnerable in our society. However, who cares when the Liberals are the party of the charter.