Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for the great speech and for outlining very well the concerns on this side of the House as they relate to the survival of thriving small businesses in our country.
I am sure that he, like many of us, has received numerous emails from constituents. Just this morning I received an email from a constituent who said:
I want to take this opportunity to express my complete displeasure and impatience with the length of and the handling of the Canada Post strike by the federal government.
I strongly believe that Canada Post should be deemed an essential service in this country.
I cannot believe that we can allow this corporation to hold hostage, and in some cases, destroy businesses within this country.
Our economy is still barely lifting its head out of the valleys of the most recent recession, and there are companies that were fighting to survive.
He went on at some length and I will not read the entire email.
Has my colleague also received communications from constituents who are very concerned about the survival of small businesses? Also, does it not seem ironic that the NDP, which seems to champion small business, in this situation seems to be ignoring the needs of small business and, in some cases, actually is causing their demise?