Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I would like to ask my hon. colleague a question in reference to a question asked previously by the member for Saint Boniface when she raised the issue of a potential kidnapping. My understanding is that in issues of potential kidnapping or loss of life, the government already possesses the power under section 184.4 of the Criminal Code to intercept private communications without court authorization.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I asked a legitimate question about the logic behind the government's approach to the bill. I did not in any way, shape, or form suggest there should be data added to the list of six. It is very wrong for the minister to try to spin it that way.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I listened intently to the minister's speech and I have a couple of questions. Does the minister feel that if the RCMP were given more financial resources it could be more effective in tracking down child predators? Furthermore, there is a difference between the bill the minister introduced now and the one he introduced in the previous Parliament.

Corrections and Conditional Release Act  Madam Speaker, the Liberal Party will be supporting the bill going to committee to study various aspects that have raised questions such those my colleague has just touched on. As the member who is sponsoring the bill mentioned, it is very important that offenders be accountable.

Brian Ross  Mr. Speaker, I would like to draw the attention of this House to the passing of a fellow elected representative, Brian Ross. Brian served the citizens of Beaconsfield in my riding of Lac-Saint-Louis as the counsellor for District 4. He was elected to city council in 2009. His election was a natural progression from his long-standing service as a well-known community volunteer.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, a national newspaper editorial came down hard on the Minister of Public Safety today. In relation to Bill C-30, the editorial states, “This type of legislation brings us one step closer to George Orwell's dystopian vision of a totalitarian state that keeps its citizens under constant surveillance”.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, under section 184 of the Criminal Code, the government already has the power to intercept communications without a warrant when lives are at risk, in order to prevent a terrorist attack, for example. What is more, criminals will be able to install encryption software, which will allow them to get around the law.

Ending the Long-Gun Registry Act  Mr. Speaker, I just have a couple of questions for the member. He argued so fiercely against the idea of registering guns, I am wondering why the member thinks that the handgun registry is effective while the long gun registry is not, since, as the member has said, criminals do not register their guns and many criminals use handguns.

Telecommunications Industry  Mr. Speaker, the government is preparing to read Canadians' emails and follow their movements through their cellphone signals, without a warrant in either case. How could we extend such broad power to the Conservatives with any confidence when they used Facebook to keep law-abiding citizens away from public gatherings?

Telecommunications Industry  Mr. Speaker, the government is preparing to read Canadians' emails and track their movements through cellphone signals, in both cases, without a warrant. How can we trust the Conservatives with such sweeping powers when they use Facebook to keep law-abiding Canadians out of a public meeting?

Ending the Long-gun Registry Act  Mr. Speaker, they are not safer. The fact remains that the people on the ground, the people who work with suicide prevention and women's shelters, know from experience that the registry helps prevent suicide and it minimizes the ability of someone with a firearm to intimidate a spouse.

Ending the Long-gun Registry Act  Mr. Speaker, certainly that would contribute to the errors. I have no proof of this, but there was talk in the early 2000s that some people may have been sabotaging the registry by filling out the forms improperly and causing gum ups in the system. One thing I take away from the constant refrain of the government is that gun owners are law abiding.

Ending the Long-gun Registry Act  That is an excellent point, Mr. Speaker, because the process of filling out forms for a firearms acquisition certificate is much more complex than for registering one's weapon. The interesting thing is that almost everyone who came to committee to argue against the registry also said that we needed to get rid of firearms licensing.

Ending the Long-gun Registry Act  Mr. Speaker, I sit with the hon. member on the public safety committee. I would say that he has approached this serious topic with a very serious mindset. I was not suggesting that he has used this false dichotomy about rural versus urban. That is the communications strategy of the government.

Ending the Long-gun Registry Act  Mr. Speaker, this is the third time I have risen to debate this bill. Before getting to the heart of my speech, I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to three women, two of whom I have known since the 1990s. I am talking about Wendy Cukier and Heidi Rathjen, who, in the 1990s, spearheaded the movement to create a long gun registry.