Mr. Speaker, I believe the hon. member has just mentioned the importance of this bill and the time urgency of it as it affects Canadians receiving U.S. social security. This includes all Canadians, not just seniors but those who are disabled and spouses and children of those who worked in the United States.
I believe the hon. member has already partially corrected the record where the member for Edmonton—Strathcona earlier said that it was rushed through the industry committee.
As chair of the industry committee I want to confirm that I spoke to every member on the steering committee, including the member who represents the Reform Party. It was agreed by all parties that we would have no witnesses because of the urgency of this bill and get it back to the House as quickly as possible for debate. It was not that witnesses were disallowed.
For two years this bill has been debated. For two years this issue has been out there. If the Reform Party wanted to do its research, it would see that this has been going on for two years. As the member for the Bloc said, it has been going on too long. It is now before the House and we must deal with this as quickly as possible.
I hope that all members will recognize the importance of getting the refunds back to people as quickly as possible. We must recognize the importance of this bill to put Canadians on parity with their neighbours who live next to each other whether they are seniors or not seniors, that those who receive income will pay their taxes based on what they should pay. We recognize that they pay tax on U.S. social security by the fact that they are only going to include 85% and not 100% of their income whereas their Canadian neighbours who worked in Canada and receive only Canadian benefits will pay tax on 100% of their income.