An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (Bill C-55)

Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, I have yet to ask the blunt direct question, and maybe it is unfair that I pick the member out of his whole caucus, but he has spoken of how it is important to make the bill as good as it could be. Although I am also going to vote for this bill and did at report stage, I am very sad that members of the official opposition caucus who usually support my efforts for civil liberties did not support my amendments yesterday. They were all derived from the recommendations of the Canadian Bar Association, the BC Civil Liberties Association and the Criminal Lawyers’ Association. They would have made the bill better. They would have made it more charter compliant.

I wonder if he can fill me in on why, in this instance, the official opposition decided to go along with the Conservatives on the bill.

Wayne Marston: To be very frank, Mr. Speaker, the official opposition did not see the merits in those amendments, so we did not support them.