The bill on the whole was passed in committee with Conservatives and Liberals voting in favour, and the NDP against."
Justin Trudeau answering questions on his support for C-51 at UBC, March 4, 2015:
Trudeau : "I agree that Canadians have real concerns about this bill and that's why we're putting forward some very very clear improvements. My hope, however, is that this government, the same way it did on C-31- the TellVicEverything Bill, and some other ones, that it actually realizes from public pressure that it is going to have to make significant amendments to this bill. But we know that tactically this government would be perfectly happy if the opposition completely voted against this bill. Because it fits into their fear narrative and let's people bash people on security.
The fact is I don't want to encourage them to not make those amendments. If they think if they don't make the amendments that the Liberal Party won't support this bill, they can make political hay out of it and I do not want this government making political hay out of an issue - more than they're already trying to - out of an issue as important as security for Canadians.
This conversation might be different if we weren't months from an election campaign but we are. And the fact is these measures - three measures in particular that I talked about - are going to keep Canadians safer in the immediate, deserve to be brought in. The bill needs to be fixed and if this government doesn't do it now, we will do it after the next election."
Q : "Ok, you yourself have expressed reservations about this bill. And yet you've already all but unconditionally guaranteed your support of the bill."
Trudeau : "That's the same question we had earlier."
Q : "It's not. You said I am hopeful that the government .... but if the government does not, I will still support the bill."
Trudeau : "Yes"
Q : "Now if the government does not accept your amendments..."
Trudeau : "If the government does not support my amendments, we're still going to support the bill. We will be offering changes as part of our election platform because Canadians are asking for those changes and when we form government we will bring it in."
Q : "Sir, I must say supporting a bill you know is dangerous while promising to reform it when you are elected to government is tantamount to holding our rights hostage where our vote is our ransom."
Trudeau : "Yes I appreciate that. [Applause] Thank you for expressing your concern. I've heard this - we've heard this from Canadians and I share those concerns about this bill and that's why the pressure that you and everyone else are putting on this government is getting them to understand that if they don't bring in oversight, if they don't bring in review, if they don't narrow the overly broad provisions in this bill, they're going to have a very difficult time in the next election campaign convincing Canadians that they're worthy of their trust. And I think that that's a good thing - that Canadians are challenging them on this and I certainly hope that it will result in this government making significant amendments to this bill, but the fact is there are elements in this bill that keep Canadians safe right now, and I am not going to ...sorry?"
Q: "Can you give examples?"
Trudeau : "Yes I can give three examples ... preventative arrests... Sorry, there's a whole bunch of people here with questions, ok? And i think I've been very generous - I've answered a couple of times on this one. I appreciate your presence here today. It's great to see you. Thank you very much for your support. I'm glad you're taking an interest in the process but I am going to get a few more questions in on this."
45 of 48 witnesses who appeared before the House Committee criticized the bill.
