Madam Speaker, I do not think there is any question. I indicated that what the government was portraying was purely a mirage or a public relations ploy that it was really doing something about security. The member is absolutely right. Canadians were shocked to learn there was no 24 hour security at nuclear plants before September 11. There are some areas that we recognize must have ongoing security, but it does not have to be an attack on innocent Canadians.
The Senate has issued numerous comments about how transport was addressing security. It talked about security at the airports. People would be surprised to learn that even now not every airport has baggage screened that is going into cargo. They do not go through x-ray. This is our transport minister's idea of security.
I have had a big issue from the start with this, that the issue of national security is in the hands of transport. If this were an issue of national security and not just a big ploy for the transport minister to make it seem like he was doing something wonderful it should not be in transport it should be in the Solicitor General's fold. It should be somewhere else. If we do not have people who are experts in security they are not going to do the things that are necessary. They are not going to ensure that our nuclear plants are secured 24 hours a day.
What should be happening is a whole different approach. I stand firm in stating that taking the security tax at airports was exploiting September 11 with a total disregard for the whole security issue. I paid a security tax in Thompson, Manitoba getting on a plane going to Winnipeg. I did not go through security. If I stopped in Winnipeg and did not go on any further, I would have paid the tax and would not have had a security check.
The transport minister said yesterday where have I been? I have been travelling in the country. Where has he been? The government talks about things that are important for Vancouver and Toronto--