Mr. Speaker, speaking of democracy, I would like to thank the hon. member for his very passionate speech.
This afternoon, we noticed that, with the exception of one Conservative member, only NDP members rose in the House to speak.
I am wondering why the Conservative members did not rise in the House to participate in the debate. Is it because they cut the CFIA's budget by $56.1 million? I think we have to ask ourselves that question.
The hon. member also mentioned the amendments that we proposed in committee. One of those amendments pertained to the average 5% fine imposed by the CFIA. The NDP proposed that the maximum penalty be increased to $5 million, which would have greatly improved this bill.
Can the hon. member comment on the NDP's proposals?