I do not know what it would cost to string a piece of baling wire from one corner to the other but I question that. Then I saw a toilet bowl hanging in a doorway and I thought: "That is interesting. I wonder how you use that or why is that regarded as a piece of art?" Things like this are unbelievable.
I had heard of the "Voice of Fire" so I looked for this painting that had cost us over $1.5 million. I walked into a quite large room and saw what I thought was a replica of this painting. I asked the security guard: "Where is the real thing?" He said: "That's it. That has actually cost us over $1.5 million". I told this to the people of Saskatchewan and they said: "Do you mean they are cutting back on health care so that we can have that sitting there?" They asked: "Why are we not being given more of a choice as to whether we want health care preserved in Saskatchewan rather than it being cut back so that it is almost inaccessible to some of the people in remote areas or that art?" I told them: "Ask your government".
We asked the government today and it cannot give us any answers. I think that is very unfortunate.
During the election people made it very clear that multiculturalism is not a priority and that official bilingualism is not a priority. They feel that the government should be looking at these areas.
When I was in the constituency last week I listened to the radio. We hear a lot about how the CBC preserves culture and so on in the province. I listened very carefully to the news reports. I realized as I did that it concentrates on certain kinds of items and in that way it can manipulate what people think about. Then I listened to the so-called balance that it is purported to have.
I heard a very good economist give a three or four minute account of what is happening in the country. I thought good for you, this is excellent. However it was given at 6.30 in the morning when very few people were listening. At 7.45 there was a long interview with someone who had allegedly been abused because of their sexual orientation. In that way they begin to manipulate what people are thinking about.
Eighty per cent of the people in my province want to hear more about certain issues but they cannot get the CBC to address them. Instead, they have to put up with a lot of things that they feel are not priorities in their lives and their society. They feel the government is trying to manipulate what is happening in this country, that it is trying to force a culture upon them that they have no control over. That is why we advocate that people who believe in certain things should pay for them. The government should not be free to use their tax dollars in any way that the elitists can and do.
I was surprised to hear the Liberals and the NDP in the House defending the fact that the elite should be making these decisions because they know better. People are appalled at this kind of attitude. It is high time that it changed. A culture that is paid for by the government tends to be very phoney. It is not a real culture. That is what people are telling me.
Many decisions are made on projects because money is there to spend on those projects. If you can apply for the money you can have the project, but if you had to pay for it yourself it probably would never take place.
My wife is of Norwegian ancestry. Her family has been here for over a hundred years. They have preserved their culture and their language. My wife is fluent in Norwegian. They have preserved these things because it is important to them. There is something real about that culture because it has not been funded by taxpayers' dollars.
My first language is not English or French. Some of you may smile and say: "We can tell that by the way you speak". We preserved our language and our heritage because it was important to us. That is the message people want to get.
Ukrainian people in my area have preserved their culture and their language because it is very important to them. I enjoy going to their gatherings and meeting with them because it is real. The government has not interfered with it. I feel that is the kind of culture we need in Canada. We do not need a culture that is imposed on us from the top, that is manipulated by bureaucrats and people who think they know better what is going on.
If there is one message I hope the government will get, it is that people are tired of the elite in society deciding what is good for them. If we believe in culture we should preserve it.
The government does not really understand what culture means and what people want. We should let people define their own Canadian culture here in Canada. The bill entrenches multiculturalism. It enforces official bilingualism. It preserves funding for special interest groups. People do not want that. They do not want the government misspending their money. The government is giving the impression it is doing something. The bill is symbolic of the fact there is nothing substantive happening in the country today.