Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to the member for London-Middlesex speaking on Bill C-99, an act to amend the Small Business Loans Act.
I conducted a survey of my constituents. In my householder I asked questions about increases in government spending. There were some increases in the area of regional development loans, particularly western diversification which affects my part of the country and also FORD-Q and ACOA.
People in my riding were very opposed to these loans being offered to regions outside of our area of the country. Even on loans granted through western diversification which affected them, there was about a 50-50 division on whether it was the right procedure.
I would like the member to comment on the problems loans based on regional development are causing in the country and perhaps some of the divisions we are dealing with in the referendum campaign which perhaps have been caused by the regional development approach. Maybe the better route would be to put more of our eggs into this type of basket, a national program. This would affect small business right across the country on the same basis with the same rules rather than dividing the dollars into regional development programs, often loans, particularly to Atlantic Canada through ACOA or to western Canada through WED.
Those programs are causing hard feelings. Western Canada has looked at ACOA and said it has not worked. We have been pumping regional development dollars either through grants or loans into Atlantic Canada and unemployment is rising in Atlantic Canada. We have been pumping dollars for regional development into Quebec and some Quebecers want to separate. We are hoping less than 50 per cent want to separate, but it is not creating national unity by putting dollars through grants or loans into regional development.
Would it not be better to put money into loan guarantees for small business on national programs? It might make us feel as if we are all playing on a level playing field rather than making people angry by dumping some money into western Canada, some into Atlantic Canada, some into Quebec and some into the north.