Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question and his kind words.
I agree with him. We have to do more to address street gangs and the proliferation of illegally obtained weapons, whether they were stolen, bought on the black market, or brought across our border. I think that giving the Canada Border Services Agency more resources, resources that have been cut over the years, and tackling the radicalization that leads young people to join street gangs would be the right approach.
Let us be honest, when we talk about fighting radicalization we are not just talking about terrorism. We are talking about all sorts of ideologies that can take advantage of vulnerable people, including young people who are then recruited by street gangs.
I completely agree with my colleague that the government cannot rest on its laurels, boast about hosting the best summit that there ever was in Ottawa, or just talk about the money that was invested. There is a lot of work to be done. I agree with that.
That said, I would also agree that we must create greater certainty in the legislation. For instance, maintaining records and files could be made mandatory for retailers, most of whom are already doing it anyway. Creating this certainty would help police officers in their work and reassure them, as the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police testified before committee last week.
As I said in my speech, there are certainly some positive aspects. We also have questions about certain details regarding the implementation of some parts of the budget. The Conservatives are quite right to criticize the government for not doing enough to tackle street gangs. However, all of these things can go hand in hand. It is not one thing or the other. There are a number of factors that affect all the very complex public safety issues, as my colleague knows full well.