Mr. Speaker, I thank the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister for getting involved in the debate as it affects all Canadians.
I appreciate that growth is the heart of the Canadian economy. It is very important for all of us to remember that the growth of the wider Toronto area has been in large part based on the export industries. Major cities around Toronto house the auto industry, the direct manufacturers being the big three, and small firms that feed into it such as the parts suppliers. In Toronto a number of different industries export across Lake Ontario into the heartland of American industry.
The message the government is trying to get across to Toronto area business people is that we are there to support them in the expansion of the economy and the expansion of their businesses. We are there to make sure they can get through customs at Buffalo or Windsor quickly.
Individual travellers or those who own businesses and use border crossing points know that there are long lines and it can be very difficult. It is one thing for individual citizens to be tied up for a few hours on a Sunday. It is frustrating if they are with their children. However it is another thing for truck drivers to be constantly held up as they do business. It extends the working day too long. It makes the cost particularly for businesses with just in time delivery systems very expensive.
We are trying to recognize the new realities in the legislation. We are trying to have members such as the parliamentary secretary take an interest because it helps us to give the message to the business community. The hon. member would probably want to go to the business community in Toronto to explain some of these points.
By way of a question I ask the hon. member whether or not the business community on the export side, as far as she knows, was beginning to understand the changes and the fact that we can accommodate tax free transitions as goods are brought into Canada and exported not only into the United States, which accounts for a large part of what we are doing, but also into Europe and South America. The Pearson airport is a centre for such transactions into new markets.
The Toronto business community would be very interested. I ask her to discuss it with her colleagues from Toronto. Perhaps we on this side of the House, those from Ontario and others, could help to take the message into the business community and to promote Canadian exports through the new legislation.