Madam Speaker, I very much appreciated the words of the hon. member whose concern for youth I also share.
I was quite taken by the debate which began with the paper on social policy and particularly the section that applied to young people and tuition fees. The proposal would see additional money made available to young people, but the result would be a massive increase in tuition fees across the country.
Coming from a rural riding I am concerned for a number of reasons. The ability of farm families to meet some of the costs for post-secondary education are becoming more and more difficult with each passing year. I was quite taken with the words of the hon. member, especially when he quoted some of the figures from the corporations that do not pay any income tax.
I will be very brief. At a time when rural Canadian people, particularly those on the prairies, are being asked by the government to pay, because of the elimination of the Crow benefit, perhaps an additional $14,000 to $15,000 a year to ship their product to market, how can the government allow companies like Canadian Pacific to earn more than $422 million in pre-tax profits without paying a single cent in income tax?
I ask that question of the government. However, in doing so I ask the member who just spoke if he would agree with me that it is certainly not fair for corporations to be allowed off the hook when ordinary, individual, rural families are being asked to pay so much more, thereby compromising the education of their children.