Mr. Speaker, I find it very interesting that the hon. member is on the cutting edge of consultation. Once again it would appear that members opposite are the only ones who in some way, as I stated earlier, are able to discern what the public wishes.
He stated that during recent townhall meetings in the west the number one issue was the debt and the deficit. At the same time
members opposite stated that during the election. This party on this side of the House dealt with that during the election and the finance minister is dealing with it now.
In terms of identifying issues I do not think members on that side of the House are in some way on the cutting edge of knowing what Canadians are thinking. I would agree to an extent that they may know what is going on in certain very limited regional areas of the west, but I do not think that in the mainstream of Canada they are able to discern what is on the minds of Canadians.