Mr. Speaker, the hon. member just gave us some figures. Obviously, I am not at all surprised that these figures apply to major urban centres. I would like to reiterate that people in the regions are not rejects. They are hard-working, they care about national politics and they pay their taxes. They should not be made to wait unduly or have to travel 700 km or 800 km in order to get a level of service that someone in Montreal could get by crossing the street, or walking 3 km or 4 km to the Guy Favreau Complex.
My hon. colleague speaks of Canada Post. I would remind him that the taxpayer has to pay $15 for Canada Post's service. If the taxpayer comes to the MP's office, it does not cost a penny, thank God. So, the hon. member can say all he wants about the thousands of applications that are being processed and the progress that is being made, but my point remains, that the people in the regions, people in so-called “remote” regions, do not have the level of service they deserve.