Mr. Speaker, there is no question that there is a historical role to official opposition parties and third parties and other oppositions that are not official.
What I saw when I walked into this House today is something we see every day. Canadians come from across this country. They take pictures and have great respect for this institution of ours. It amazes me that if I were to listen to the debate in this House long enough I would get the impression we were a third world country and we were going to be bankrupt next week and the whole country was going to fall to pieces. We know that is not the case. I was looking forward to a kinder and gentler House. We started off talking about that but somehow the rhetoric since the start of this 35th Parliament has not followed that up.
Certainly on the second point the member says she is glad I am aware of Reform policies. The point that needs to be made is that most members of the House are new. The class of '93 has a different perspective from that of previous Parliaments.
I dare say the thinking of most parliamentarians who returned and have been here for a number of years-some have been here for a number of decades-has changed in terms of current realities. I like to think of myself as a small r reformer. I have been one ever since I have been involved in municipal politics and in community activity preceding that. I will continue to be a reformer a long time after I am gone from this place. In terms of high tech hurting small business, I guess in the new, changing economy we as a country have to make sure we are playing a major role.
I refer to my experience in the federal riding of Waterloo. It is the home of the University of Waterloo, an excellent technical university. It also has a good arts program. Sir Wilfrid Laurier University is down the street and is very strong in business. In our community we are very much players in the new economy. We are seeing the creation of thousands and thousands of jobs. I can only say that it is working for us. We have the lowest unemployment figures in Canada at 7.1 per cent. Of course many of our firms are exporting. It is amazing how many of our export firms are bringing hundreds of millions of dollars into the Canadian economy.