Senator Plett: Thank you. I’m sure that Mr. Gerretsen will, again, tweet tomorrow that I am stalling this bill because I had the audacity to ask questions about this — as he said, before you introduced the bill, that I was already stalling it. I’m not sure what he will say now.

Senator Yussuff, you cited — a number of times — how many deaths there were from firearms, and so on and so forth. At no point did you tell us how many of these deaths were due to legal firearms — just with firearms. I don’t think there is a person in this chamber who disagrees with us clamping down on illegal firearms; I certainly don’t disagree. It’s not the legal firearms that are the problem — it’s the illegal firearms.

You talk about increasing the sentences from 10 to 14 years for smuggling. I want you to square this box for me, Senator Yussuff: You’re talking about how the Liberal government wants to increase penalties, and yet the Liberal government repealed — with Bill C-5 — minimum firearm sentences for robbery with a firearm, extortion with a firearm, discharging a firearm with intent, using a firearm in the commission of offences, possession of a firearm knowing its possession is unauthorized, possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition, possession of a weapon obtained by the commission of an offence and discharging a firearm recklessly.

If this is a government that is bent on stopping crimes with firearms, why would they repeal all of these minimum sentences? Why wouldn’t they, rather, try to increase those as opposed to repealing them — and stop going after legal firearm owners, and start going after illegal firearm owners?