Mr. Speaker, I listened with intent to the member's speech. I thought he gave a very good speech. Sometimes we do not have the opportunity to praise each other in this House. Perhaps we should do that more often. It is interesting that of all his colleagues, he is one of the few whom I have actually heard defend the concept of having national standards in this country.
I think that sometimes we get involved in the issue of devolution and do not look at what is behind it. Presumably the theory is that the closer the government is to the people, the better the administrative services. Does the hon. member for Lethbridge feel that programs administered out of Edmonton would be superior to a local CEC office in Lethbridge which would deal directly with the people?
I wonder if the hon. member could think of things which are under provincial jurisdiction which would be better handled on a national basis.
I visited a softwood lumber forestry operation in British Columbia which was very close to the Alberta border. I was surprised how every province in this country competed against each other. The net result was that the Americans were able to plot province against province to create a quota system. In fact, what we should have been doing was talking with one voice in international trade.
I wonder if the hon. member could comment on some of those items.