Mr. Speaker, to comment on the customs Act, Bill C-2, basically customs is there for two major reasons. The first one is to make sure there is a good flow of traffic across the border. It is also there for the safety and security of Canadians.
One of the things that was alluded to by all members is that there always have to be savings in federal departments, or any department run by government. We have some 90 departments that crown corporations and we have always said that we want to look at them. There are reasons why we have them. If we cannot run them efficiently we look at turning them over to the private sector.
In this case the minister is amalgamating two departments. Obviously there are going to be problems with staffing. There is always going to be some staff simply because if they have territorial problems they will go to members opposite and make presentations.
One of the things that I want all members of this House to remember is that whenever we work with departments the people who work for government are servants of the general public. We hear it time and time again that most of the problems that are encountered, that frustrate the taxpayers of this country, relate to the fact that bureaucrats or people who work for government slow the process down. They get into some kind of a culture in which all of sudden they have extra powers and they impede the progress of citizens. We get a lot of examples of that.
One of the things that all members should remember is that we should not inflame it by being in bed with any person who works for any department with regard to territorial matters. All of us who work for government must recognize that the taxpayer is the person who funds all these programs. If there are any efficiencies to begin with, they should be there and there should be common courtesy for all.
I hope that when we examine any bill or any scenario in which governments are downsizing or right sizing, as the case may be, which is the term being used now, as the member who seconded my motion on the throne speech said, we should be lean but not mean.
As a government we should remember that and also remember that when we are trying to do these things we are trying to do them for the general taxpayer and we are trying to give efficiency notwithstanding the fact that this jobless recovery is a very significant and important thing that everyone has to deal with, including government.