Mr. Speaker, I have been called many things but not often have I been called a socialist. Reform Party cultural gurus across the way are now accusing me of being a socialist. I find it a little ironic, particularly in view of what has been said by Reform Party members in the past about Canadian cultural industries and how they should be promoted by the Government of Canada.
I have the little green book of the Reform Party. I am trying feverishly to find a page which refers to the Canadian cultural industries. Perhaps I will a little later.
Some people in the Reform Party are now saying that promoting Canadian culture is somehow tantamount to socialism, and they are repeating it now. I do not think it is a particularly nice thing to say about their leader. He said the same thing not long ago. I have it in the little green book. I will defend the leader of the Reform Party against those vicious attacks from the backbenchers any time. His backbenchers need to be reminded to be more respectful of the hon. member from Calgary, the leader of that party. The leader of the Reform Party needs all the help he can get. Shall we say he is in a pretty tough spot.
I would like this House to know that today, we should all support cultural initiatives, any initiative designed to promote Canadian culture. The Canadian book and magazine publishing industry is certainly one that deserves the support of this House.
Other countries are not at all shy about supporting their cultural industries. Anyone who has ever visited France and who has seen the amount of effort put into promoting and preserving heritage sites, promoting culture, promoting art and so on, would know a tremendous sector of that nation lives from that alone. That is not true of that country alone, although in terms of western societies it is probably the country with more in the way of art and promoting those fields of human endeavour than any other.
We could take other examples. I am told the largest museum in the world is in Russia, in St. Petersburg I believe. That country has a very different kind of regime, one opposite to the country I was talking about previously, but it also saw fit to protect some of its cultural goods and property.
The Smithsonian Institute is another example of that, certainly not located in a socialist country. It is located in a country that is very different.
I want to end with the following immortal words: "The Reform Party supports the responsibility of the state to promote, preserve and enhance the national culture. The state may assist and should encourage ethnic culture to integrate into the national culture". I do not know if I agree with that part but in any case that is the quotation from no less than the leader of the Reform Party, who has just been accused of being a socialist by his own backbenchers.