Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague from Thunder Bay—Superior North represents not only his constituents well but many of the small businesses that operate in his riding.
I am really quite surprised at the questions from members of both the Liberal Party and the government. They are questioning the bill's relevance to small business.
The bill's genesis was based on a store owner who was defending his property. One of the reasons he was defending his property was that he was so frustrated at the pilfering going on at his store. Why was he concerned about that besides the obvious problems facing his business? He was concerned because small business owners in this country operate on tight margins. If we listened to Mr. Chen speak at committee, which I am sure most members of the House did, they would have heard him say just how marginal his business is and how important it is that he have the ability to protect his property.
To hear the Liberals and the Conservatives just dispense with that and wonder why the bill has anything to do with the precarious situation of small business owners across this country is quite surprising to me. I would like to congratulate my hon. colleague for bringing that important aspect of the bill to the attention of the House.
I would ask him to explain how businesses are operating in his riding and how they may react to this bill before the House.