It has no business sense and it never has had any. I find that rather amusing coming from the Conservatives. It seems that a lot of these problems started when the Conservatives were in power.
We come back to the same thing. We know that mining is extremely important to Canada. It employs a large number of people, not only in the maritimes but right across Canada.
We know that coal will be under scrutiny here in this Kyoto agreement this government has decided to go into. So we have many problems in the coal industry right now due to government intrusion.
We have to realize that in many instances the private sector is better at looking after the needs of the people in the communities. All businesses have to make a profit in order to survive. It is that simple.
When we have to compete in the world marketplace we have to understand that. We are competing in a world market, not just among ourselves. Therefore when I see mismanagement of Canadian taxpayer dollars to the sums I see in here under Devco I have to seriously question the sanity of the governments involved. I do not think I am the only one to question the sanity. I think the taxpayers question it.
To sum up, I think the mining communities and the taxpayers of this country are tired of getting the lousy shaft from the governments which have run this country and it is time to get us back on the right track of producing and surviving.