Mr. Speaker, Bill C-68 in the House of Commons received second reading yesterday. From there, I think procedurally it goes to the Standing Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs, chaired by Mr. Warren Allmand. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, it's my impression that the committee is expected to report very quickly back to the House of Commons so that Members are not allowed to stray too far from the political fold over the course of the summer recess. The government in Ottawa wants to deal with this with some haste. They already have three dissenting voters within their ranks. It's expected that if there's a delay, the lobby being mounted by Canadians across this country could result in a serious fragmentation of the Liberal Party on this particular issue.

The standing committee chaired by Mr. Allmand, I understand, is expected to report very quickly to hold hearings over the course of perhaps a month or a month and a half at the most, so that the parliamentary procedure can be completed without too much delay. This means, at least it implies, that not everyone across this country will be allowed to be heard. They will perhaps be selective of the amount of time and number of presentations they allow to be made to them.

There is a letter that was sent to the chairman, Mr. Allmand, requesting that they visit the Northwest Territories, and that the committee of this Legislature which I am chairing be allowed some time to make a presentation, and that time also be allocated for those groups from the Northwest Territories that wish to make presentations on their own behalf. I've also requested a meeting with the federal Minister of Justice for the week after Easter, in mid-April, to again impress upon him the nature of our concerns, but also to remind him that we support elements of his legislation. There are just certain elements of it which we find are too severe, such as the sentencing components contained within the Criminal Code part, and the administrative nightmare that would result from the imposition of a national registration system. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I can't remember the question. I was kind of befuddled with the Member's request. Perhaps he could rephrase it again.

Mr. Speaker, it is possible that the committee chaired by Mr. Allmand could come forward with some recommendations which could make substantial changes to the measures contemplated in the bill. We still have opportunity to meet with the federal Minister, ourselves. Our two Members of Parliament within the federal party also have access to the Minister, and I'm sure are doing what they can to listen to the political will of the people across this country.

It is my view that allies come from different places. For instance, the entire gathering of Ministers in Victoria in January when we met as respective governments with the federal Minister, we asked him if there was some way to make changes. Some of them were to the severity of the sentences contemplated in his proposal. We couldn't get the Minister to budge at all. But you will have noticed that in the news, when the police association made that comment and suggested that perhaps he may want to look at being more flexible in the sentencing for first and second-time offenders, law-abiding citizens who inadvertently run into conflicts with these registration laws. He seemed very willing and seemed to suggest that yes he would work in concert to appease the request made by the police association. So there is some movement still at this late stage and we are happy for it, we

continue to work on it. Thank you.