Mr. Speaker, the hon. member from the Liberal Party had a very nice speech. I have the utmost respect for this gentleman but I have one question. I listened to his speech. He said that this bill will be fully debated in committee. That is exactly what I said in my speech. He is just repeating what I said. I said that our party will support the bill at second reading. We hope that in committee we will be able to bring about the necessary changes so we can support the bill at third reading. If we are not allowed to bring about changes in committee, we will not have a choice but to vote against the bill at third reading.
I was surprised to learn that the hon. member opposite was a former president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. My staff was in contact with people in that organization just yesterday. They are very upset that this bill is being rammed through the House at this time, because there were no consultations.
Would the hon. member agree to give the municipalities more time to look at this piece of legislation in order for them to decide what they agree with or do not agree with? As the former president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, he should know how the municipalities work. The government should have used caution and not moved so fast.