Hon. members opposite find this act a bit of a joke. I am sorry they think so. It is sad that they have moved amendments to delay adoption of the bill in the House. This surprises me because it shows they really do not care about Canada's cultural community with which the bill deals. If hon. members opposite gave two hoots about Canada's cultural community, they would not have moved all the amendments.
I will read the amendment moved by the hon. member for Medicine Hat. I believe it is the second or third one; I have lost count. The amendment reads:
That this House declines to give second reading to Bill C-93, an act to amend the Cultural Property Export and Import Act, the Income Tax Act and the Tax Court of Canada Act, since it fails to address the issue of the burden the tax credit system places on middle class taxpayers who are asked to pay for a potentially endless stream of donations of questionable cultural and artistic value claimed by wealthy Canadians.
The amendments shows a complete disregard for Canada's cultural community because it says that the work of Canadian artists is worthless, that the acquisitions of art by Canadians are worthless, and that these are "donations of questionable cultural and artistic value". That is what Reform Party members are saying. Those are the very words of their motion. That is what they are saying to Canadian artists and philanthropists involved in supporting Canada's artistic community. It is a disgrace.
My hon. friend for Ottawa Centre will appreciate that I had occasion to go to Alberta in July of this year. One place I visited was the Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller. There are a lot of dinosaurs in that museum and I can say that the resemblance between some of the dinosaurs there and members of the Reform Party was absolutely striking. I could tell where their ancestors came from.
I was very impressed with the Tyrrell Museum. It is one of Canada's cultural centres. It has an excellent collection. I enjoyed my visit immensely. I took a tour of the entire museum and I saw the workings of the very specialized people involved in the digs.