Mr. Speaker, on this World Book and Copyright Day, I wish to remind hon. members that books are one of the greatest paths to knowledge and learning. I congratulate and thank all those who create these paths.
The Government of Quebec decided to help facilitate this means of access to knowledge by eliminating its sales tax on books, whereas the federal government refuses to follow suit with the GST, despite its huge surplus.
What is more, this government has not yet remedied the Minister of Industry's lack of sensitivity in inflicting chronic underfunding on the Copyright Board.
In order to put this situation right, the hon. member for Québec and Bloc Quebecois heritage critic will this afternoon be introducing a bill placing responsibility for the Copyright Act under the Department of Canadian Heritage, something that has been called for virtually unanimously by copyright holders.