Mr. Speaker, I would like to make a few comments and ask a couple of question of the minister. I thank him for that diatribe but I do not know why I really should.
There were a couple things I noticed. One is that he would like to run against me in a future campaign. This is interesting. If he could ever figure out where the west coast is, he could come and take a tour. I could show him around. He would be welcome to run against me there.
Even if he were to run, of course, I know the minister is good at raising dollars. He raises and spends lots of bucks. If he wants to give me $25,000 to run against him, he should be aware that in the debate, in a battle of wits he is unarmed. I hate to take advantage of an unarmed man.
He brought forward the following points. First, he did not deal with the motion at all. The sad part about the speeches of the Liberal side today is that they do not want to talk about this. They are saying: "Let's not talk about this. We are happy with the status quo. What is going on is perfect".
Mr. Rompkey was there for 25 years and for 25 years Labrador has been shipping hundreds of millions of dollars a year to Quebec under this deal and the Liberals are satisfied. They say: "It's a good deal. Don't talk about it. Don't ruffle the feathers. Don't cause any problems. We are happy over here on the Liberal side. It's a good deal. We're happy. Don't worry, be happy".
The people of Labrador are not happy. They have not been happy since this deal was signed and the minister's complacency, saying "just live with it because that's the way she is" is not good enough.
Development in Labrador is not good enough. The ability of Labrador to develop its natural resources is not good enough. It has not been able to take advantage of its natural wealth. It is not good enough to say just live with it.
The minister asks them to be satisfied with the TAGS program. First, the fishery is destroyed and then they are asked to be satisfied with some government handout. The people in Labrador do not need handouts. They need the federal government to quit taking them for granted.
If the hon. member would speak to the motion we could believe that he would be dissatisfied with the deal for not only Labrador, but for most of Atlantic Canada. Instead the minister defends his record as if he thinks he is doing a good job. Frankly I do not think the people of Atlantic Canada, and specifically Labrador, believe he is.
I think of the work done by the hon. member for Kootenay West when the Liberal government was willing to shut down the ferry service in Labrador Straits. The hon. member received many letters from that region thanking the Reform Party for standing up for their rights. I am getting phone calls and faxes throughout the day, even comments from people on the Hill that finally somebody is talking about Labrador. However, nothing has been said on the government side. They seem to be satisfied with the status quo.
I think of the wealth that is in Labrador. I have been to Voisey Bay. I have been on the ground and talked to the people. I have been throughout that whole region. I will go again and hope to go often.
When I see the wealth that is there and the fact they are not encouraged to develop it for the benefit of themselves and for the people in Newfoundland, I think it is disgusting that the Liberal Party opposite says: "Everything is okay, we do not want to talk about it. Mr. Strahl, why did you bring this motion up? We are happy to ignore Labrador, just suck out the resources, tax their pants off and leave them standing naked in a cold wind storm". It is not good enough.
Finally, I know the minister will support me on this. His initial thesis, if you can call it that, was that we did not care because this motion is not votable. I would ask for unanimous consent of the House to make the motion votable.