Mr. Speaker, I too wanted to lend my comments to the hon. member and thank her for her remarks on this piece of legislation, Bill S-4.
I remind those opposite who spoke so negatively to the fact that the bill came forward through the Senate that in 1986 the government initiated Bill C-58. It was introduced in the House. The House dealt with it at second reading and put it into a committee of the House of Commons. The House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport dealt with the issue, heard witnesses, put forward the amendments, came back to the House of Commons at report stage and then, because of an election, it died on the order paper.
I will answer the hon. member's question about why we did not move it sooner because of its importance in the marine sector. We dealt with the marine sector in our dealings with the Canadian port authorities.
We were seized with Bill C-9, the Canada Marine Act. That took precedence. The member would agree with me that Bill C-9 is a very important bill for Canada. That is why we dealt with that bill first. At the same time we had the opportunity to move the bill, this particular bill, the old Bill C-58 which this House dealt with, through the Senate as Bill S-4. We are just making effective use of valuable legislative time.