Economic and Fiscal Update 2021  Mr. Speaker, for several months now, Quebec and the provinces have been unanimous in calling for an immediate payment of $28 billion to cover health care costs, with a 6% escalator. Why, then, is the minister proposing that the Canada health transfer escalator be maintained at 3%, the legal minimum, until 2027, when that is far below the annual increase in health care costs?

Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, I would not go so far as to say it is a panacea. We cannot lump everything together because every case is different, as evidenced by the fact that Bill C‑5 covers 20 specific mandatory minimum sentences. I have expressed reservations about some of them, especially gun crimes, so I think we need to keep things in perspective.

Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, I would say to my colleague that it is fairly simple. We support abolishing certain mandatory minimum sentences. However, there are shootings practically every week in Quebec and Canada. We have asked the ministers and the government to take a first step to show that they are serious about this issue and that they can tighten gun control.

Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, I wholeheartedly agree with my colleague, and I did talk about that. Judges are best equipped to do that, and they need the flexibility to decide what penalty best fits the crime. The good thing about mandatory minimum sentences is that sentences can be greater; unfortunately, they cannot be lesser.

Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise to debate Bill C-5. I have to say that this is not a straightforward subject; it is extremely complex. As I am not a lawyer, I, too, have to make sense of it all. I want to thank the office staff of the leader of the Bloc Québécois, who have really helped clarify this issue.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, on the one hand, the Liberals are doing nothing to stop illegal arms trafficking; on the other, the Conservatives want to take issue with the CERB; and in the middle, families are worried, some people no longer want to walk the streets of Montreal at night, there are gunshots in libraries and stray bullets are ending up in the living rooms of law-abiding citizens.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, for weeks now, everyone in Quebec has been calling on the federal government to take its responsibility for gun control seriously. People have been waiting weeks for the government to take any kind of concrete action. The government did not start by tightening border controls to thwart illegal arms trafficking.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, with greater Montreal reeling from a wave of shootings and tragedies, the Prime Minister should be doing everything he can to fight illegal guns. However, that is not what he is doing with Bill C‑5. His bill eliminates minimum penalties for importing firearms and for using them to commit crimes.

Gun Violence  Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties and if you seek it, I believe you would find unanimous consent to adopt the following motion: That, given the increase in gun violence and the numerous deadly shootings in the streets of Montreal and the metropolitan area in recent weeks, and notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practice of the House: (a) the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security be instructed to undertake as a priority a study on gun control, illegal arms trafficking and the increase in gun crimes committed by members of street gangs; (b) the members to serve on the committee be appointed by the whip of each recognized party depositing with the Clerk of the House a list of his or her party's members before the adjournment of the House; c) the Clerk of the House shall convene a meeting of the committee on a priority basis no later than Wednesday, December 8, 2021; and (d) the Minister of Public Safety, as well as representatives of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, appear before the committee as witnesses for a period of three hours each as the committee sees fit.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, there was another shooting yesterday. This time, an 18-year-old was shot at a library in Laval. Now we are at a point where even our libraries are not safe. No good can come from normalizing the use of firearms to the extent that people feel free to fire guns in public places.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, if we are at the point where libraries are getting shot up, what is next? The situation is getting worse by the day in greater Montreal, and yet there does not seem to be any sense of urgency on the federal government's part. No one is reassured to hear the federal government talk today about what it has done in the past to tackle gun trafficking, because everyone can see that it is not enough.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, we are dealing with a gun culture where criminal groups buy, sell and use firearms as though they were toys mainly because they are just as easy to obtain as toys. The minister has some solutions. First, he could look to his own party for inspiration. The Liberals spent the election campaign saying that the RCMP is not adequately funded and that prison sentences are too lenient.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, this morning, La Presse published some disturbing stories from anonymous people, including a mother who wants to get a firearm to defend herself. This mother said, “Guns have become so commonplace in my community, that I'm wondering whether I should learn about them and get one to stay safe at home”.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, we are at a crossroads. When members of the public come to believe that the solution to gun violence is to arm themselves, we have reached the limit. In this area, the federal government has failed miserably. The minister consults, discusses, and sits back, while American gun culture takes hold in Canada.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, this is urgent. Many assault weapons are prohibited, but everyone who owns one can keep it. This is urgent, but the government has not made a mandatory buyback one of its first priorities. This is urgent, but the government has not made banning handguns a priority either.