Mr. Speaker, I have a couple of questions for the member for Ottawa Centre. When I listen to him, I realize he lives in Ottawa, in this august place where parliament is. He should visit the rest of the country once in a while.
He talks about this being a historic moment. In 1917 this House had another historic moment. We brought in a temporary income tax law. Now we have another historic moment where the government is trying to bring in another bill which is not going to do the average Canadian any good at all.
The member said it was a great consultative process, that the government is listening. Why is it after all this time that none of the provinces have signed on to this project? Why is it that Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, the majority of the people in Canada do not like this project? Yet this government is consulting. Why did it not wait until it at least got the agreement of the provinces? If this is a country where the federal government is going to work with the provinces, surely we should not have legislation in this House before the provinces or at least the majority of the provinces come to an agreement. Right now we have zero.
I ask the member why he thinks the government had a consultative process. Why does he think the government is listening when it does not have provinces signing on to this project?
He talked about Statistics Canada being the envy of the world. One would have to live in Ottawa to think that. He should talk to the people in British Columbia or Nova Scotia about Statistics Canada and the interference in their private lives if he thinks it is the envy of the world. Perhaps people outside Canada who have never been here think it is the envy of the world, but not the people who live here and pay taxes.
I ask the member, why is this bill so good when not one province has signed on to it?