Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the remarks of the hon. member for Saint John.
I admire the member for Saint John. She was very effective in the last Parliament and I expect that she will be in this Parliament. However, I believe she is missing the point.
In the last Parliament the government had to make some tough decisions. You can care about the people and still make tough decisions knowing that what you are doing will be better for all the regions of the country.
In my home town of Elliot Lake, starting in 1990 we experienced a job loss of some 5,000 in the uranium mining industry. There was a lot of adjustment, but in the long run the changes which took place have shown that Elliot Lake and that region will survive and do very well.
I know that the spirit of the citizens of the Atlantic provinces is very much the same. They will respond to change and they will deal with the challenges that face them in a very creative way. I have every confidence in the citizens of Saint John and the other ridings of the Atlantic provinces. They will take up the flag and march into the next millennium with all of us. All of our regions will be better off with the changes and improvements that we have made in the governance of this country.