Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the back-handed compliment from the Reform Party. It is unfortunate it could not just be an up front compliment.
I understand what Reformers are saying. In terms of the infrastructure, I must say that all projects the infrastructure money has gone to are priorities set by the people in the north. We gave them the money and they decided what they wanted to do.
If we are going to talk about building a highway, in 1984 it cost $1 million a kilometre. Simply put, Canada does not have that kind of money. There are a lot of kilometres of road to be built and we do not have that kind of cash.
I am happy the Reformers are lobbying for a road in my riding. I would welcome them to transfer their infrastructure money to help us build the MacKenzie Valley highway. That would be great. Let me say that it is a tremendous investment and even though I would like the government to make that commitment, it cannot do so at this time. In light of deficit reduction, we must be realistic in all the priorities we set. It is a long term goal, a dream of mine and a dream of northerners. It is something I appreciate the help of the Reform Party on.