Mr. Speaker, the hon. member opposite mentioned that two fellow members of the human resources development standing committee are in the House. This reminds me of last November or December when our committee held hearings in 27 cities. I mention 27 cities to my hon. friend because some of us visited different cities. We held hearings in 27 cities in 35 days in 10 provinces and 2 territories, including
the eastern Arctic. If anyone thought that was a complete holiday I would ask them to try to do the same thing.
My hon. colleague reminded me of the evenings. I especially remember one evening that involved a 45-minute trip from the airport in Sudbury to the hotel. It was cold and snowing but we had the most beautiful Christmas carols with a bilingual rendition supplied by the hon. member and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister who is here now beside me. This bilingual rendition of "Silent Night" should have been cut on a CD. I am sure our sales would have been very high.
We got along very well most of the time. The hon. member tells us that HRD is closing down employment centres across the country and there will be less points from which people can get services. I wonder if the hon. member has been listening to the minister who is always so prompt and efficient in telling about the future.
There will be more centres for information, more access points in Canada than ever before. Kiosks will be set up. Canadians will get better service than they have ever had before.
The hon. member mentioned the government is cutting back on bureaucrats and on civil servants. Does the hon. member not have confidence in the dedicated civil servants who will do a great job to take up the challenge to provide the best services possible to all Canadians?
The hon. member might realize that during those hearings in Quebec, as in all parts of Canada, there was one thing the people asked of us. They wanted hope and to see a light for the future. They wanted jobs and a chance to get back into mainstream Canada. They wanted their self-esteem to be improved. They wanted opportunities.
I recognize my colleague as having a lot of talent, but would the hon. gentleman focus on getting our fellow Canadians back to work rather than trying to tear the country apart?
With the talents that are sitting here opposite us, what a difference we could make if we did not spend hours and days and months trying to destroy what our forefathers have put together.
I dare say that if you go out on the streets of your home town or I do in my home town, our citizens have nothing against each other. They would like to live in peace and harmony and be able to feel that we are part of this one great country.