Mr. Speaker, this bill is as important to me, being from a rural riding, as it is to the member for Brandon—Souris. I currently have 193 communities spread over my large riding. A countless number of libraries in my riding rely on this program to a great extent.
I will be supporting my colleague's bill and I am supporting it for all the right reasons, because as the member himself said, “it is a matter of public policy rather than one of profit-making”. That is exactly what this is about. This is a good public policy, one that should be continued, and I would like to congratulate him on that.
I have been approached by many people who talk about this particular rate as being advantageous because it allows people in smaller communities to receive material that has already been received in larger communities, simply because they have the resources and the people causing the demand that is there. This allows them to move this product around.
Let us hope that the expiration of this program does not happen. The continuation of this program is of the utmost urgency.
My colleague talked about expanding to include different materials. I wonder if he could elaborate on that, on what other products or materials would be included in this public policy.
I would like to congratulate him for bringing this issue forward.