Mr. Speaker, I really enjoyed the speech by the member for Prince George-Peace River.
It will be interesting to see if anybody grabs the bait. It was mentioned somewhat in committee, just tossed out as an idea. We will see if anybody picks up on the suggestion for the Prime Minister's office sometime between now and when the bill gets muscled through Parliament .Gratefully, I will not have to hold my breath on that one, I do not think.
I do have a couple of questions for the member. Earlier today we heard from the Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Status of Women that she was offended that I would talk about hyphenated Canadians. The people opposite know that if any party is against the term hyphenated Canadians it is the Reform Party. We say all Canadians should be treated equally. We do not care whether you are a recent immigrant, third generation or an aboriginal person. We think all people should be treated equally. Definitely the idea of hyphenated Canadians is repugnant to us.
I would like to get the member's opinion and check on what the member is hearing back home in northern British Columbia. The last census of Canadians that StatsCan brought forward found there were over 700,000 Canadians who refused to identify themselves as anything other than Canadian. They would say: "I am not a hyphenated Canadian of any kind. I am just a Canadian".