Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I won't be long in my comments because we have heard quite a number of comments from both sides now and it would only prolong the debate here at the stage where it is a bit premature.
I will be supporting the principle of the bill and the second reading. I have made this decision, after careful consideration and some consultation on the matter -- perhaps not as in-depth a consultation that one could on other subjects. But I believe that it doesn't effect the public as much as it does myself. I am the one that's here. I am the one that's most subject to the affects of this bill, whether they be positive or negative, and I think that I will stand on that principle.
I think that the principle of zero tolerance that we supported last year so wholeheartedly did lack and this may, with its flaws, be a building block onto which we can set an example to other legislatures of our commitment to what we espoused here when we passed the zero tolerance declaration.
If it is only the fear of repercussions of being a good Samaritan that some people are hesitating in supporting this bill, well, personally, I will take that chance because I think that whatever court convicts will also consider the rationale behind an act that I will take, and I will take that consideration as well. I speak more personally perhaps in support of this than I should.
If we go on and get caught up -- and maybe we should get caught up -- in the emotion of this topic, it will bring out points that the public have given us over the term that I have been in here about setting examples. I think Members have tried to set examples, and perhaps we may have a mechanism here already to deal with it, but we never do; we never use those mechanisms that we have. We never do, and this is one way of dealing with it, and it's not going to be something, I hope, that people out there will want to use to seek revenge on Members here. They will not be successful in their efforts.
I think the main thing is that we have to not only set examples for the public as to what our behaviour in the public's eyes is going to be but also set examples for ourselves as to what we expect. If we expect it of the public then we should ourselves be willing to be subjected to...