Mr. Speaker, I listened attentively to the remarks made by the hon. member.
I remind the member we have members of Parliament from every region of the country. I believe our members of Parliament, especially the minister responsible for fisheries and oceans, who also comes from Atlantic Canada, are well equipped to give advice to the House on the types of programs that would assist their constituents when they are going through this very difficult period.
One of the things the Reform Party has to face is that it does not have any members in Atlantic Canada. Because the Reform Party does not have any members in Atlantic Canada it would like to let the local and provincial authorities do it. However, as the national party, the Liberal Party has members who are sensitive to every region of this country.
The point that caused me to rise this evening had to do with the whole issue of tax reform. I came to Parliament full of hope that the Reform Party would have a very tight focus on the whole issue of comprehensive tax reform. What do we hear day in and day out in question period? During the last couple of weeks I have had the opportunity to look at question period, and I notice that the Reform Party has not focused on the issue of tax reform. I think maybe once the member from Calgary gave a pretty good speech on it. Here is an issue that could affect the lives of every Canadian. It was the Reform Party's issue during the last election, but its members came to this House and deserted it.
The hon. member said we should cancel grants to business. The biggest grants to business in this country are the billions of dollars that are buried in the tax act, many of which go to foreign multinational oil companies in the form of tax credits. Will he stand up in the House and say that all of those tax credits, tax grants, and tax preferences should be cancelled?