Mr. Speaker, today I have a petition for the House that is signed by 4,000 people in Sault Ste. Marie and environs. It brings to the attention of the government the fact that there is no passport office anywhere in northeastern Ontario, which means that citizens of northeastern Ontario, who pay taxes like everybody else, only have access to a full passport office, particularly in instances of emergencies, if they drive some eight hours either to Toronto or Thunder Bay. This usually requires them to stay overnight, which brings added expense with it.
The Seniors Health Advisory Committee carried out a very extensive canvass of the community, spending literally months in many of the malls and public areas gathering these names and talking to people. The 4,000 people who signed this petition want the government to understand that they will not be treated like second class citizens. They need and want a full-fledged passport office in Sault Ste. Marie, which is a border community, to serve all of northeastern Ontario. Otherwise, they are not getting the service that everybody else in Canada, particularly in the larger centres, takes for granted.