As one of the new members of the committee, I appreciate the discussion it's had about Banff, and certainly I think there's obviously a convergence of important folks there.
Being new to the committee, I'm just wondering how we would go about this and what type of dollar figure we might be looking at in terms of having all of us head out to Banff. I certainly don't think people would consider it a junket at the best of times, but certainly with our having just arrived here, and finally moving forward in the committee, I would have a difficult time going back to my constituents and telling them that I had just spent.... I think the number that has been thrown out there has been over $70,000 to take us to Banff to take part in the proceedings there. So I'm just concerned that if I go back to my constituents and tell them that I've just spent $70,000 of Canadians' tax dollars for this type of thing, I would have a difficult time communicating that to them.
It's funny, because as this number came up, at the same time, I'm being appealed to by community members who have special projects with regards to museums and any number of things. I have a community near where I live, the town of Mayerthorpe, where last year they experienced a horrible massacre of some of their RCMP members—four of them. The community is really trying to rally together and raise some funds for a memorial there, and they've appealed to all of the different departments and are getting nowhere. They're looking for just over $100,000. They've collected what they can from the community, and certainly I would have a difficult time saying that we spent $75,000 travelling when they're having difficulty even putting up this type of a memorial in their community.
That's just my sentiment, but I'm new here.