Mr. Speaker, I want to first thank the member opposite for the question. I found it of particular interest that he would make reference to the chamber of commerce. Certainly those people in the chamber of commerce in my area of Canada and indeed those members of the board of trade in various places across this great land have cheered the government in terms of what it has been able to do.
I am very glad that he would make that point on my behalf. I very much appreciate that because business, as members know, have been able to see the merits of what the federal government has been able to accomplish over these past numbers of years. In fact, they are very grateful for the kind of things that have been done to secure the kind of climate that is necessary for people to live and work and secure the quality of life that is necessary.
I was particularly interested in the question with respect to the infrastructure program. As a former mayor of a municipality in the region of Waterloo we very much value the infrastructure program that was put into place not only in 1993 but also in 1996-97. For example as a municipality we spent enormous amounts of money in partnership with the province and the federal government to ensure that sewage treatment plants were in place, to ensure that highways were built and roads were secure and in doing all kinds of things in the best interests of the people we represented.
For the hon. member to make reference to the infrastructure program I can certainly say that it was a wonderful program which benefited Canadians not only in my part of Ontario and Canada but people across this great land.