Mr. Speaker, I rise today generally in support of Bill S-3, legislation that modernizes Canada's measurement laws through amendments to the Weights and Measures Act and the Electricity and Gas Inspection Act, as well as the weights and measures regulations and the electricity and gas inspection regulations.
When legislation like this comes before Parliament, it is quite appreciated. Legislation like this will help modernize the Canadian economy. I will note, however, based on what I have heard in Debates so far, it was actually the government representative in the Senate who tabled the legislation. In fact, the Liberal government has a tradition of taking bills like this, bills that are highly technical in nature, like some of the red tape reduction acts in the previous Parliament, to do some of the foundational work that governments are actually responsible for. I am not criticizing that approach, but it is the tradition of the Liberal government to do that.
Why is this bill, which at first glance a Canadian would see through a very narrow and highly technical lens, actually important? If I were to talk to my constituents about this bill, I would outline the little metal placard at every gas station in Canada that allows them to understand that, when they fill up their truck in Mission and expect to pay for 50 litres of gasoline, they are actually getting 50 litres. When a family in Abbotsford receives their monthly electricity or natural gas bill, they expect the metre to accurately measure what they have, in fact, consumed. When someone purchases a kilogram of apples or, as the member previously mentioned, deli meats at the grocery store, they trust that the scale is, in fact, giving an accurate reading.