Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to make a few contributions to the amendment to the government amendment made by the member for Mercier.
Basically, the purpose of that amendment is to ensure that when the CRTC carries out its operations that it does so in a way which will facilitate the interoperation of Canadian telecommunications networks and also acts in the public interest. We plainly have an ideological dispute in place as to the function of regulation and of operating markets and how we make sure that markets operate in the public interest.
Generally, markets will operate in the public interest. However, in other instances they will not and as a government and as a people we have to be prepared to ensure that markets which allocate resources and products in our community and in the country do so in a way which is in harmony with the public interest.
There is no sense in having an economy that works contrary to the public interest. One of the problems of the position taken by the speaker on behalf of the Reform Party, the member for St. Albert, of course, is that he would permit ideology to dictate common sense. We surely cannot in any sensible debate allow theory that does not work to apply to a situation in a way that would be contrary to the public interest.
I think what we have is a situation in which Teleglobe and indeed the telecommunications industry as a whole have exciting opportunities both here at home and abroad. It will be faced with important challenges as the world market is opened up and the Canadian market is further opened.
It is everybody's hope that Teleglobe survives, thrives, does well and creates more jobs in Canada and more profits that will of course be taxable in Canada and indeed provides a good service to not only Canadian users of telephones, indeed almost every Canadian, but also is competitive in the world economy.
In the context of that and in the context of moving into what is unchartered territory, we have to ensure that the Canadian public interest is also protected.
I take the point of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry that we should ensure that all regulation be in the public interest. Of course, that is true. However, I do not think it hurts to remind us that when we do regulate, when we do have an overseeing of agency which is designed to ensure that the industry in question being regulated is in fact operating in the public interest, it does not hurt us to be reminded that that agency should function in that way.
Indeed, flowing again from the comments of the member for St. Albert, his views seem to be that regulation is never in the public interest. If only for him we might have an amendment which reminds Canadians that we have the public interest at heart when we look at making sure that markets work.
In the instance that markets work effectively for Canadians, then we can leave them alone. We perhaps do not need to regulate very much the market for the buying and selling of bicycles. When we are dealing with something of this sort, we do have to ensure that Canadians are protected. That is the purpose behind this amendment, and I support it.