Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for finding my speech inspirational. One of the reasons I delivered it was to make sure people across Canada understand that when people come together and pool the resources available we can bring about positive change to people's lives.
One of the things I do not agree with is that somehow Canadians are lacking confidence. I know that when I speak to Canadians from coast to coast what they are telling me about the government is that for the first time in a long time they believe our budgets.
We are telling them we will reach 3 per cent of GDP on the deficit. We will be going down to 2 per cent. They also gain a lot of confidence from the more than 560,000 jobs that have been created since the election on October 25, 1993. That is good news for Canadians. They understand that we have low interest rates and that the fundamentals are there for small business to create those jobs.
I agree with the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance and members of my caucus who are saying to the small business sector and to the business community that they have to join with the rest of the Canadian family to generate the jobs required, in particular for our young people.
I cited a couple of examples of the type of work I have been doing in partnership with local stakeholders in my riding which is are actually creating jobs for people. We live in an era of constant change. The old rules simply do not apply. We need to be creative and innovative to generate the type of job creation Canadians are calling for.
I do not view this in a very self-defeatist way. The people in my riding of York North are quite excited about the change that is occurring. That is why initiatives like the Vaughan Technology Enterprise Centre, the York Region Strategic Alliance and the recent activities with one of our major corporations, TetraPak, are bearing fruits and bringing about change.
It is the responsibility of all members of the House to join forces with local stakeholders to create those much needed jobs for the Canadian economy.