Mr. Speaker, it is always a great honour and privilege to stand in the House and represent the great people of Timmins—James Bay. There are hundreds of people from the Timmins and Kirkland Lake region who have signed this petition calling for a full walk-in passport service in northeastern Ontario.
I am sure many members are not aware that northeastern Ontario is the only region in the country without a walk-in passport service. There is service in northwestern Ontario and southern Ontario, but for a region that is dependent on mining and international exploration work, the need for passport turnaround is essential.
The petitioners are calling for a full walk-in passport service so that emergency passports can be received in the city of Timmins. Most members would recognize that is a completely reasonable suggestion being that Timmins is the centre of northeastern Ontario in terms of business, culture and all manner of other great things.