Will the hon. member for Yukon also oppose Bill C-30, as I intend to do?

Ryan Leef: Mr. Speaker, personally I do not see the comparison between holding information in a database that is already going through the Internet in a manner that allows the proliferation of child pornography in our country in the same fashion as the database with the long gun registry.

As a long gun owner, I need to physically fill out paperwork and go through screening. That information is supplied to a registry that has been fraught with errors, a registry that sent back to me registration information for firearms I did not even own. That in and of itself risked putting me in a criminal position.

They are very different systems.

In my mind, the lawful access legislation is a good body of legislation that would shut down the heinous and sick crimes of pedophilia and child pornography that exist in our country. I will be voting in support of that. The privacy laws for Canadians in that legislation, as the minister made very clear, are going to be protected. I have read the bill and I am confident that the strict provisions for warrant applications would absolutely ensure the privacy of Canadians and also consumer and corporate competitiveness, which is an excellent step.

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I would like to ask the member for Niagara West—Glanbrook if he is aware of when the government plans to bring in these measures, because I certainly would support them.

Dean Allison: Mr. Speaker, a number of these measures are already in place.

I do not have a licence but my son has gone through this process. My son has spent a couple of days trying to get certified on safety issues and learning how to handle guns properly, and so I know there are a number of safety requirements already in place.

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I hope I will not prolong this episode, which I think has been unpleasant and worrying for all of us, by asking if the member’s apology is predicated on the notion that the registry had anything to do with confiscating weapons.

The Acting Speaker: It is not the practice of the House that we debate the content of what a member is rising on in a point of order. It is the practice of the House that, when a member rises and withdraws remarks and/or apologizes, we accept that and move forward. If members would like to discuss this among themselves, that is at their discretion.

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Alas for Saanich-Gulf Islands MP May and the police who see the registry as a public safety issue, the data bank is about to be collapsed, its gun-ownership records shredded.

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The Tories, however, have a majority and eventually squashed all of the efforts.

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Unfortunately, this was not the case yesterday when Ms. May was prevented from paying tribute to Vaclav Havel who, ironically, was dedicated to the struggle for and protection of democratic rights.

Ms. May’s protest action is also in response to the systematic silencing of MPs since the Conservative Party gained their coveted majority government.”We have to take every opportunity which the rules of the House offer to show Canadians that their valued democratic rights are being curtailed almost daily in what was once a House where varying opinions were respected and heard.”

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I would like to ask him and other members of the Conservative Party not to assume that members on this side of the House do not have friends and relatives who are hunters, who use guns, who respect gun owners and who understand that gun owners in this country are responsible and stalwart members of our communities. I ask my friend to please recognize that some of us have actually spoken to police chiefs and RCMP officers who have asked us to help them keep this tool. I would have much preferred that at this point in the discussion we were finding solutions that work for everyone rather than finding ways to further divide us.

Robert Sopuck: Mr. Speaker, I am reminded of the metaphor, if it sounds like a duck, walks like a duck and swims like a duck, it must be a duck.

All the pious words in favour of the hunting community notwithstanding, the actions of all the members opposite certainly belie that. Over and over again, they seek to restrict and reduce the ability of people who live in my constituency to live their lives how they want to. I will gladly concede the point to my hon. friend when she provides unequivocal support for a way of life that has sustained this country for generations.

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Motion No. 4 — February 3, 2012 — Ms. May (Saanich—Gulf Islands) — That Bill C-19 be amended by deleting Clause 4.

Motion No. 7 — February 2, 2012 — Ms. May (Saanich—Gulf Islands) — That Bill C-19 be amended by deleting Clause 23.

Motion No. 10 — December 1, 2011 — Mr. Bellavance (Richmond—Arthabaska) — That Bill C-19 be amended by deleting Clause 29.

Pursuant to Standing Order 76.1(2), notice also received from:

Mrs. Mourani (Ahuntsic) — December 5, 2011

Mr. Harris (St. John’s East) — January 26, 2012

Ms. May (Saanich—Gulf Islands) — February 2, 2012

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The archives of the Government of Canada are full of information from regimes that are no longer being used. The information is available for research. I really find it troubling that this key point is so hard to communicate.

Guy Lauzon: Mr. Speaker, we know that the truth of the matter is the data is totally ineffective. Police officers have told me. These are the police officers who put my signs on their lawns and on other people’s lawns. They tell me the information is totally incorrect. It is not reliable.

Why would one want to keep information that is totally useless, wasteful and way too costly?

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In the meantime, I wonder if he noticed the use of the long gun registry in another recent event. I mentioned earlier in response to my friend from Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca the use of the long gun registry in solving a crime just this week in Saanich. There was also an event just 11 days ago in the Sudbury area in which the long gun registry helped the police solve a crime.

The evidence from the police and particularly from the Canadian Association of Police Chiefs, despite the individuals here and there who have been made so much of by the Conservative Party benches, show that overall, as the many incidents confirm, they use the long gun registry to solve crimes. What will they use in its absence?

Brian Jean: Mr. Speaker, how about police officers? It would be nice if the member from the Green Party and the members from the NDP would actually support this government when we put money into front-line police officers because they are the ones who actually solve the crimes.

To suggest that a computer system that is utilized by some police officers will be accurate on a continuous basis or that it will keep police officers or other Canadians safe is ludicrous. It is not kept up to date. There is no way to track the firearms themselves.

People may be able to pull a couple of things out of the air here and there to say that it has been effective but it has not been effective $2 billion worth. That is a lot of front-line police officers who can be trained and put on the streets to ensure Canadians are kept safe, because that, ultimately, is what it is about.

The NDP and the members opposite keep voting against those front-line police officers. That is why the police officers support the Conservative government.

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