Mr. Speaker, I am glad the hon. member for Tobique—Mactaquac enjoyed my speech so much, but I would like him to compare the amount of money that was spent in his riding through the SCIF program to the amount of money that has been spent through the innovative communities program these past two years.
I think he will have to admit that the government of the day spent invested an awful lot of money in the smaller communities in his riding, and not only in the smaller communities in his riding, but at the border, with $1 million put into the entry into Maine. We did not quibble. It was good not only for his riding but for Atlantic Canada to have this improved border accessibility. The facilities were antiquated. We did not hesitate to invest money there.
When it comes to the beef plant, before the federal government would put a penny into the meat plant every provincial government in maritime Canada had to come up with $2 million each. I do not think the Conservatives really thought that the three maritime provinces would get together and come up with $2 million each for a beef plant on Prince Edward Island. I think they were counting on the fact that Nova Scotia and New Brunswick would not take their hard-earned money and put it into a plant in P.E.I., but the Conservatives were proved wrong because they are missing out on the new spirit of cooperation in maritime Canada.
The three premiers are getting together, along with the premier of Newfoundland, and we are working as a cooperative unit. We are working as a region. I would really appreciate it if the federal government would enter into that new spirit and start investing in the centres of excellence and research and development that other parts of this country are enjoying. If so, I think we will see that Atlantic Canada will prosper just as well as other areas.