Mr. Speaker, I find troubling the suggestion by some of the members on the other side that this debate was triggered by this side. It was the government that brought forward the time allocation motion instead of debating a very important bill. Our country signed on to a treaty in 2008 and we have waited this long to have legislation in this place that we can debate.
Yes, this bill merits a lot of time debating. There have been serious concerns raised about the bill by the former prime minister of Australia, by the Red Cross, by the country of Norway. The bill, as put forward by the government, has some deep seated problems that some nations have suggested could completely unseat this convention.
This is a convention that is meant to protect the world's children from being maimed or killed. If ever there were a time when a bill merited hearing the voices of the representatives in our country, I would suggest this is the time. Shame on the government for trying to shut down debate.