Criminal Code  Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on Bill C-41. I begin by voicing my absolute disgust with the government in its move to invoke time allocation on the bill. Bill C-41 is an important bill with serious implications. My constituents of Comox-Alberni deserve to have their opinions heard through their representative in the House.

Criminal Code  If people are concerned about what this bill could mean, then they should get on the phone or the fax and get in touch of their member of Parliament or the Liberal government and tell them that of your concern about what this could open up if this bill goes ahead as it is written. I regret that with time allocation there are only a few hours left before this bill will become law if the government pushes ahead. I ask the government to reconsider, to listen carefully to the amendments that will be proposed later and do the right thing to eliminate this section altogether.

Firearms Act  Mr. Speaker, if the government had not chosen to enact time allocation I am sure all of us would have enjoyed hearing the remainder of the hon. member's speech on this issue. He can thank his own party for cutting him off in that sense. We are talking about effectiveness of this impending legislation.

Liberal Party  We will have a chance to see if last week's lesson in populism renews the desire of all members to do what is right for their ridings and their province. Time allocation may speed some bills through the House but Ontario members know the final vote on this issue will take place in 1997 on the gun bill, on pensions, on sexual orientation and employment equity.

Firearms Act  I do not think we have had enough time either at the committee stage or at second reading stage. Time allocation was utilized. A deadline was placed on the number of days to hear witnesses. We went immediately from there into clause by clause study. We did not even have time to examine the testimony of witnesses on a day to day basis, because the time lag from the time they testified to the time we received the written testimony was four days.

Firearms Act  Madam Speaker, I want to make a few remarks with regard to Bill C-68 and the amendments put forward by my colleagues. On time allocation, we must understand in this assembly that there are many Canadians interested in this subject, and to set a time limit on the amount of debate when we have such an important bill before us is not the act of a responsible government.

Firearms Act  Madam Speaker, in listening to the debate I cannot help but wonder why the opposition is all of a sudden so exercised about time allocation when in fact we dialogued about this bill for almost a year. The Minister of Justice went from coast to coast to coast speaking to groups on the bill. The subject matter of the bill was brought forward on November 30 and the bill was brought forward based on that subject matter on February 14, 1995.

Firearms Act  It has taken a great deal of time and now is the time to move forward. If the House had to debate each amendment with the appropriate time allocation we would be here until next Christmas. The government has to move forward. We have had a great deal of time to discuss this. The allegation of some members that somehow this is ramming something through is quite to the contrary.

Questions Passed As Orders For Return  I know the government is not interested in a free and open debate on the issue of gun control because they have invoked time allocation, but I find it hard to believe the government does not have the information on the cost of gun control readily at hand. My dictionary defines "soon" as "before long, promptly, quickly".

Petitions  The petitioners are requesting that Parliament not attack the recreational firearms community and that it support legislation that severely punishes one who uses a weapon, including a weapon other than a firearm, protects the rights and freedoms of the law-abiding recreational firearms community to own and use firearms responsibly, passes careful scrutiny to see that it will improve public safety in a cost effective manner, and repeals present firearms control legislation, which features tortuous language and has been characterized by the courts as one of the most horrifying examples of bad draftsmanship. As we draw to the close of the debate on Bill C-68 this week because of time allocation invoked by the government, let these petitions serve as a reminder that the minister does not have the support of these nor millions of other Canadians.

Firearms Act  Time today does not permit me to address and debate each of the Reform's amendments. The time allocation imposed by the Liberal government with the co-operation of the separatist Bloc party for both the report stage and the third reading of this bill denies me and my colleagues the opportunity to present evidence to substantiate our amendments or to represent the concerns of our constituents.

Alternative Fuels Act  Surely we can reduce the amount of legislation that is currently on our slate. It seems to be pushing the government to all of these wonderful hours of time allocation and extended hours. Perhaps we could just dispose of this bill.

Business Of The House  In respect of Bill C-68, about which we heard a lot of bleating and whining yesterday when we applied a time allocation motion to the debate on it, I want to point out what has gone on here. This bill was introduced in February, debated at second reading on February 16, February 27, March 13, March 27, March 28 and April 5 for a total of 20 hours and 21 minutes.

Business Of The House  I can understand their reluctance to hear some facts. I have come today armed with the odd fact to deal with the question of time allocation that members have raised in the course of their remarks and the extension of hours that we are going to enjoy together next week. The first thing I want to say is that the hon. member for Simcoe Centre talked about what the voters want.

Business Of The House  Every one of the campaign promises from the red book are being enforced in legislation today. The legislation we will be dealing with next week under time allocation was contained in the red book. The government is living up to the commitment it made to the Canadian electorate in 1993 in the red book. I notice the Bloc is silent and agreeable on these points because it knows that governments are elected to fulfil certain commitments.