Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question.
I concur that this is a welcome meeting of the minds. We can have reasoned debate. We can come to the House of Commons and feel secure in knowing that at least our ideas will be received and debated in an atmosphere of collegiality, understanding that we come to this place with differing ideologies.
The simplest answer to the hon. member's question when it comes to differing ideologies and how we understand and view the unemployment insurance system is that there is no doubt in the minds of the Reform Party that the unemployment insurance system is a fundamental labour market institution as it was developed in the 1940s. When it was developed in the 1940s it was for a specific reason: temporary assistance as an individual moved between jobs. It was not as it has now become, and I am quoting: "a cornerstone of Canada's social safety net".
If we look at it in those terms it is coming at the question from two very different points of view. On the one hand we would like to see it as part of and included in the labour market as a tool. On the other hand it has become part and parcel of the fabric of social support in Canada. Quite frankly, I do not quite know where a meeting of the minds would find agreement. We could see where each of us is going, based on our belief systems, on what we believe to be right.
Another comment with respect to the question of differing ideologies is from something which appeared on page 20 of the briefing notes we were given the other day. It comes back to the question he asked. I question the political motivation behind the part of the proposal dealing with employment benefits and services.
The federal government is now committing to work in concert with each province. The alarm bells start to sound when we start thinking about each province. The hon. member talked about inclusion and the same kinds of support across the country. Yet in my mind it will obviously be different because each province is invited to enter into agreements.
For the decentralization the hon. member has described, it tells me there will probably be a different set of circumstances for each province given its particular debt, deficit and unemployment situation. This will include the agreements. That is why I say there could be quite a difference when we are talking about federal-provincial alignment.
The design of the employment benefits and measures, how they will be implemented and a framework for evaluating the results tell me there will be consistency across the country. It just opens a social safety net to all kinds of expectations that perhaps the government has not thought about.
With respect to the member's comment about growth and small business in the country, there is no question that small business generates lots of jobs.