Safe Streets and Communites Act  Mr. Speaker, we recognize that we have provincial governments and we have many professionals across Canada who have expressed great concern in regard to Bill C-10. Close to one third of our chamber, I believe, is made up of new members of Parliament. Yet, we just had the government House Leader stand in his place and move yet another motion of time allocation thereby preventing many members of Parliament from being able to speak to the bill and provide comment on the bill as to what their constituents might have to say and so forth.

Safe Streets and Communities Act  Mr. Speaker, I was a provincial justice critic for many years. One of the biggest things we wanted to establish was that the best way to fight crime and prevent crime was to invest money up front. Investing money up front in programs that will steer people away from committing crimes is far more effective.

Safe Streets and Communities Act  Mr. Speaker, Gary Kowalski was a wonderful police officer. He and I served in the Manitoba legislature. Gary Kowalski said that if we wanted to deal with youth, we should get involved in youth justice committees. That way, we would be able to deal with preventing crimes. In the last number of years, especially in the province of Manitoba, the youth justice committees and the roles they have played have actually deteriorated.

Safe Streets and Communities Act  Mr. Speaker, the member brings up an exceptional point. Whether it is mental illness or disorders such as fetal alcohol syndrome, there are issues that have a profound impact on what individuals are doing in our communities. If we do not allocate the necessary resources to support better programming, at the end of the day we are going to end up spending more money on our jails and there will be more crime on the streets.

Safe Streets and Communities Act  Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to stand today to talk about Bill C-10. Bill C-10 would have a very profound impact. I think, in good part, it would set the stage in terms of different ways in which we ought to be able to deal with crime in our country, not only for today but well into the future.

Safe Streets and Communities Act  Mr. Speaker, I am sure the member would recognize that there would be a substantial cost to the implementation of Bill C-10, if it passes. We do not know what those costs would be. The Liberal Party has attempted to obtain the actual costs from the government, but we are beginning to believe that the government has no idea of the costs.

Safe Streets and Communities Act  Mr. Speaker, I have this question for the member. Will he not recognize and acknowledge that it is only the Conservative government here in Canada that seems to take this approach that the best way to prevent crime from happening is to build mega jails? It is something which has not worked in the United States.

Safe Streets and Communities Act  Mr. Speaker, the member made reference to minimum penalties. I was interested in an article that made reference to minimum penalties and will quote from it. It said: A pedophile who gets a child to watch pornography with him, or a pervert exposing himself to kids at a playground, would receive a minimum 90-day sentence, half the term of a man convicted of growing six pot plants in his own home.

Safe Streets and Communities Act  Mr. Speaker, the government's agenda behind Bill C-10 is clear. The government is trying to give Canadians the impression that it is concerned about crime, and that this legislation would put a lot more people in jail and minimize the amount of crime on our streets. Preventing crimes from taking place in the first place is, I believe, the priority of people living in Winnipeg North and anywhere in Canada for that matter.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, with pleasure I present this petition on behalf of prairie farmers. Their desire was to address it to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. The petitioners are requesting that he honour the democratically expressed wishes of western Canadian farmers. We are all aware of what took place yesterday when Bill C-18 passed, which disagreed with what the prairie farmers were actually requesting.

Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act  Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Wheat Board is an organization operated by farmers for farmers. The bill goes against what a majority of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta grain farmers want. The response by the Prime Minister was best said on October 7 in The Globe and Mail: It's time for the wheat board and others who have been standing in the way to realize that this train is barrelling down the prairie track.

Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act  Mr. Speaker, if the member were to listen to what the average prairie wheat farmer is saying, he or she is saying that farmers do want to keep the Wheat Board; they see the value. I have said this on a number of occasions. I am sure he could sympathize with the farmer who says that a majority of the wheat farmers want to retain the Wheat Board, yet the majority Conservative government is taking away the Wheat Board.

Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act  Mr. Speaker, it is very important for those who are listening to the debate that we be very clear that a good majority of prairie wheat farmers support retaining the Canadian Wheat Board. In fact, well over 20,000 prairie farmers voted to keep the Canadian Wheat Board. These individuals have seen the value of the Wheat Board for a wide variety of reasons.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, this is a very timely petition given the government introduced Bill C-18, which is going to kill the Canadian Wheat Board. This petition is signed by many prairie farmers calling upon the government to respect the wishes of a majority of farmers. We all know that the majority of prairie grain wheat farmers want to retain the Canadian Wheat Board.

Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers  Mr. Speaker, I truly believe that the Prime Minister of Canada has had a very strong personal hatred for the Canadian Wheat Board long before he even became the Prime Minister of our country. I think this whole Bill C-18 to get rid of the Wheat Board has more to do with the personal opinions and feelings of members of the Conservative government.