Mr. Chair, I am being slightly heckled so I will remind the hon. members across the way that my emphasis in this party is on the noun of the old party's name, not on the adjective, and that is why I am a part of this party.
Again, as we point out, all that wasted money that went into the gun registry should have gone to legitimate law enforcement. It should have gone legitimately to the RCMP to fight various things such as credit card fraud.
There we had a practical measure that we could have dealt with to help Canadian consumers and help tackle the high cost of credit cards, yet three parties in this House, the Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc Québécois, failed on that opportunity. It was a disgrace. It was an absolute shame that instead of attacking the gun registry and dealing with the problem, just as this member here has done and members in this party and on this side of the House have done in all their various incarnations over the years, they chose instead to funnel it right back. It was a wasted opportunity to deal with all sorts of crimes.
We also must be practical. I was speaking earlier on the purpose of education and what we can do even without legislation. One thing we can do as parliamentarians, members of the public and distinguished public servants is reach out and discuss with our constituents what they can do.
I am a Conservative. I believe that government is not all powerful and all knowing. It cannot solve all problems. Problems are often solved by giving them directly into the hands of the people. I believe that the people themselves can take charge and make decisions and that society is shaped as people themselves take on their own responsibilities; that balance of freedom with responsibility forms freedom. What we can do to enhance and encourage that is increase their knowledge and their background in order to deal with issues.
In that light, with the full knowledge that there are people watching and people who will read Hansard , let me give to hon. members some suggestions of information they could put in their householders, things they could discuss when they conduct town hall meetings, as I am sure all hon. members do in their constituencies. These are practical applied purposes and points that members can get out there, regardless of partisan persuasion.
I am sure that no one in the House supports credit card fraud. One, it is the taking of unlawful assets. Two, as the old joke goes: do not steal; the government hates competition.
With those words in mind, let me give a few points for people to consider to protect themselves from credit card fraud. There are a considerable number of resources. The RCMP has a website. There are articles from the Regina Sun . There are consumer websites. There are a considerable number of websites to use, but let me give a few practical ideas that members can pass on to their constituents during their town hall meetings.
Number one is to protect that PIN, personal identification number. Do not tell anyone. That is very important.
Number two is something I always forget to do. Never leave credit cards unattended at work or school. The workplace is the number one place for thefts. Again, working in an atmosphere where the government continuously taxes, one should be reminded not to leave one's money lying around. Someone will pick it up.
Number three, people should not leave their credit cards in their cars. Cars are the second most likely place where credit cards will be stolen.
Number four, people should always check their credit cards when they are returned after a purchase.
Number five, when travelling people should make sure that their credit cards are with them, or in a safe location.
Number six, people should sign the backs of new credit cards immediately, as soon as they arrive. The reason is if there is a discrepancy, that signature will be compared with the one on any receipt given in the future. That is very important. I know of friends and family members who have forgotten to do this. It is good to remind everyone of this.
Number seven, people should make a list of all credit cards and their numbers, and keep the list at home. They should not keep the list with the credit cards, because if someone else gets hold of the credit cards, he or she will have all the information needed to use them.
Number eight, people should check their monthly statements. Mistakes can happen. No one wants to pay for a criminal's fraud. Most parents are unhappy enough when they see that their child has used the credit card without telling mom and dad about it. We definitely do not want to give criminals that opportunity
Number nine, people should never give out a credit card number over the phone unless they are dealing with a well-known company, or if they called the company first.
Those are just some practical suggestions I wanted to put on the record to help members. They are ideas for their householders, town hall meetings, et cetera, so they do not just have the theoretical, but they also have the practical.
I will sum up my points. Number one, we should more aggressively combat credit card fraud instead of wasting money on unnecessary things like the gun registry. Number two, people themselves have the greatest power to deal with it through information to fight back. My final point is that we as public servants should go out there and educate, spread the word, and give information. We are in the public eye many times in our constituencies. Let us do some good. We all know we do good through our legislation. Let us do it in some practical aspects, interacting with people on what is essentially a non-partisan issue.