Mr. Speaker, you get quite emotionally wound up in these things and you go off track every now and then.
There are gravesites of Canadian soldiers in Europe. Our tax dollars maintain those graveyards in France, Holland and Belgium. There is even a Canadian gravesite just over the border in Germany.
They are beautifully maintained. It makes us realize how lucky we are to be Canadians. Canadians died so that you and I can sit in the House of Commons, be free and be free to speak. It is part of our history and it is something that we must not lose.
Would we have a national orchestra or a national film library, and I could go on and on, without federal assistance? Of course not. They could not possibly operate without financial assistance from the federal government.
It is our responsibility to encourage artists, whether music, sports or whatever. They need to have the opportunity to develop their talents so that you and I and future generations have the opportunity to dwell on the importance to this nation of the contributions of those people who have gone before us.
In my riding of Nepean we have the Centrepointe Theatre which is a 1,000 seat theatre comparable in size to the National Arts Centre theatre. I look at the operation of that theatre. It is operated by volunteers.
The Centrepointe Theatre is not any different than any other organization. The National Arts Centre has volunteers, as does the National Museum. People in this country give their hearts and souls and their time to contribute to these institutions.
Has anyone been to Washington or a state capital recently? Do members know how Americans promote their heritage? It is front and centre every day of the week in school. They are constantly there with buildings and monuments to retain their heritage. I did not hear one positive statement from the Reform Party on heritage.
The government appreciates that there are some concerns about the decision to divide responsibility for broadcasting and telecommunications between Canadian Heritage and Industry Canada. The inclusion of telecommunications in the department's industry portfolio recognizes the increasing role of telecommunications.
On the other hand, broadcasting fits more closely with the identity of culture and the Canadian content mandate of the Canadian heritage. Canadians know that the government is committed to fiscal responsibility in all areas of federal endeavour. Bill C-53 is a prime example of that.
By putting these five ministries into one, we are looking at the bottom line. The Reform Party can take comfort in the knowledge that for the upcoming year the Canadian heritage portfolio is saving $76.1 million. That is a significant amount of money.
In addition to these actual savings of money there will be other longer term efficiencies realized through the regrouping of the areas of responsibility from various departments. Broadly speaking, the Canadian heritage minister will work for the betterment of our country in matters relating to Canadian identity and values, cultural development, heritage and areas of natural or historical significance to this nation.