Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the words of the hon. member from Manitoba. I have enjoyed listening to him over the past three years. He has made great commitments on behalf of the people he represents. Therefore, I am a bit surprised that he has so gullibly jumped into the rhetoric of the finance minister on the budget.
The member comes from a constituency that relies on the rural sector for its own buoyant economy. This budget had very little to offer to people who live in rural Canada, particularly those areas that were affected by cutbacks to the western grain transportation program of previous budgets of this government.
In previous budgets there was $720 million a year cut from farmers' pockets for transporting grain to port so that Canada can sell it into the lucrative export market. In those previous budgets which took that $720 million from transportation and ultimately from farmers' pockets, we were told at the time that value added production would return benefits to rural Canada and would therefore create jobs.
Value added production since that time has not increased dramatically. While there have been some gains made in Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Regina, there have been virtually no gains made in small town western Canada. This budget should have acknowledged the greater need for value added production in rural Canada giving the opportunity for a number of the young unemployed individuals throughout Canada, many of whom the member talked about in his remarks, the opportunity to gain some income to proceed with their post-secondary education.
My question to the member for Brandon-Souris is quite simple: Will he work to assist young people in rural Canada to generate the type of economic activity that is necessary in the Cut Knifes, the North Battlefords, the Kindersleys and Brandons of the world and ensure that the government supports their efforts through a value added production type of programming?