Mr. Speaker, it has often been said that great things come in small packages. That saying is certainly true in my riding.
Salmo, a community of 1,300 enthusiastic people, wants to give Canada a special present on its birthday. Noting that the mint spends over $10 million a year replacing hoarded pennies, Salmo hit on the idea of challenging communities and service clubs across the country to gather in more pounds of pennies on a per capita basis than it does.
Penny drops are now set up throughout the province and will soon be in other provinces as well. It proposes that all pennies collected will then be shipped to Ottawa to be applied against the national debt on Canada Day. This project has caught the interest of people all over B.C. and it is still growing.
Salmo challenges all hon. members to dig into their jars, dressers, drawers and penny banks to collect more pennies on a per capita basis than the residents of Salmo.
This patriotic project will not only reduce the debt by millions of pennies, it will also save a substantial portion of the $10 million the mint spends to replace hoarded pennies.
Salmo, a small town that makes a lot of cents.