Mr. Speaker, I thank the House for the opportunity to rise on Motion No. 3 put forward by the hon. critic from the third party, the member for Medicine Hat.
He asked a rhetorical question as to why the parliamentary secretary for finance was afraid of competition. I would like to set the record straight. Neither the parliamentary secretary nor his government are afraid of competition.
If you look at the question differently and ask what we are proud of, we are very proud of the Canadian magazine industry. We are very proud of the fact that we have within Canada a very strong and flourishing industry. In fact one of the associations involved, the Canadian Magazine Publishers' Association, has about 300 members. This gives you an idea of the strength being brought to the Canadian market by the Canadian industry.
This strength has not been there by a wish or by a magic wand. The strength of the Canadian magazine industry is in fact predicated upon 30 years of actions and 30 years of considerations by the federal government. It began with a study that is known as the O'Leary royal commission and went on to be studied later in the 1960s by Senator Davey, who is still of course in the upper chamber, who looked at the problems in the Canadian communication industry.
It is not simply a case of taking a look at one segment or the other. I was happy to see that the hon. member got a chance to meet the broadcasters and talk to them about some of their ambitions. He too probably heard from the Canadian Broadcasters' Association and how proud they are of the regulatory regime, which allowed companies like CanWest to grow and prosper.