Mr. Speaker, Bill C-52 is there primarily because of concerns expressed by those individuals and stakeholders in the shipping industry, whether they are in agriculture, forestry, minerals, chemicals, fertilizers, oil and gas or industrial and other types of manufacturing. It is a fairly extensive list of individuals. Small and large businesses have seen this great imbalance that does not favour the shippers. This became apparent to the Liberal Party in 2007, when the stakeholders came forward saying that they needed to see some form of legislation. They came to the table and asked the government to do something.
One could argue that the bill before us today is a very small step, but it is a very important step. The issue is the degree to which the government is going to be prepared to accept amendments to improve the bill so that all members of the House enthusiastically support it. Would the member provide comment on the importance of the government listening to the stakeholders once the bill gets to committee so that we can improve it?