Mr. Speaker, I had a chance to serve with the member on the industry committee and I know he does his work. However, I see a double standard. The claim is that this is essentially a housekeeping bill and that the government is doing it because the industry has asked it to do it. I agree that the industry has asked it to do this, but then later on the member is critical of other discussions points, things the industry is also asking the government to do.
We know that port authorities and ports across this country have been literally crying for the resources to be able to perform and to ensure that they are safe and secure. There are significant repercussions with our U.S. relations regarding homeland security and Canadian national security.
If the government is acting on this because the industry has asked it to, when is the government going to act with significant resources, and not just a paltry amount, which the government has been criticized for? Some small improvements have happened, but not nearly enough. The Minister of Transport has himself I believe called his own ports sieves.
When is the government going to listen to the industry's needs to have better support in order to ensure the security of our port system? If we are going to listen to industry now, let us listen to it on the other things it needs as well.