Mr. Speaker, I am sorry the hon. member from the Bloc is angry, disturbed and distraught about Canada. Life in Canada, the best country in the world, is very wonderful. I hope he will soon find peace and learn how to enjoy this wonderful country.
The member made several references in his comments about Canada and Quebec taxpayers. I understand the member is a separatist and does not respect Canada, but I invite him to get to know the rest of Canada by travelling outside of Quebec. He should believe, as I do, that he owns a bit of every part of Canada, every province, the lakes, the Rockies, Banff, the beautiful prairies and the wonderful maritimes. Walk on the rocks of Peggy's Cove and he will fall in love with Canada again and again.
The member also asked whether this party had a heart. This party does have a heart and a soul; it is in the Prime Minister who we all know always speaks straight from the heart.
The member in most of his speech basically said we have a lot of economic problems in Canada and gave examples of the consequences. He referred to things like school dropouts, teen suicides, et cetera. He contradicted himself by saying we were interfering in the areas that are exclusive jurisdictions of the provinces.
Schools are under the responsibility of provincial jurisdiction and the dropout rate now in Canada is something like 22 per cent. If he speaks to the school boards he will find out most school boards are not dealing properly with dropouts. They are spending a lot of money on school dropouts but they are spending it on kids who have already dropped out. They are not spending anything on children who are thinking about dropping out.
Rather than trying to rip the heart out of the country would it not be a better use of the member's time to start working within his riding to make sure we are spending and focusing our limited dollars on trying to prevent problems rather than reacting to them?