Madam Speaker, I believe that the Minister of Public Safety was appointed to cabinet about two months ago, so my question is whether he has received his mandate letter yet from the Prime Minister. Particularly, if he has received the mandate letter, could he provide the House with an update on the status of the amnesty for firearms and whether it is in place until October 30?
I know there are a lot of folks across the country who are impacted by this. There is a lot interest from different advocacy groups about what is going to happen on October 30: whether there is going to be a buyback program in place by then and whether the amnesty is going to be extended. There are a lot of folks from different groups who just really want to get some understanding on whether the Prime Minister's Office has given the new public safety minister a mandate letter, and whether that mandate letter has provided a little more clear direction on what the minister should be doing with regard to the October 30 deadline, which is quickly approaching.
I know this is something that, probably regardless of political stripe, a lot of folks are getting communications on in their offices, inquiries both from constituency groups and from different advocacy groups on all sides of the firearms debate. I was hoping the minister could provide an update on whether he has received his mandate letter. Broadly speaking, I think that is of interest to the House. Also, could he provide an update on the status of the October 30 amnesty as well as the status of the buyback program?