Madam Speaker, I am glad my friend asked this question.
The first day back after the 1997 general election we felt that we ought to raise the most important question facing the future of Canada, which we did. We asked for a special debate on the MAI. We asked for cross-country hearings on the MAI. We asked the government to inform Canadians about the details of the MAI. That was our first item of business.
We called for cross-country hearings and so on but we did not get the support from our friends in the other political parties. I do not know whether that was because they did not want to tour or they did not know anything about the deal. But we will set that aside.
Then along came our first opposition day and we had a choice to make. We acknowledged that there were 1.5 million children living in poverty in one of the richest countries in the world. We acknowledged that there were 400,000 young Canadians looking for work and could not find a job. We acknowledged that there was only one other country that has a worse record when it comes to child poverty and that is the United States of America.
We felt that it was appropriate to speak out on behalf of those young children who cannot pay for a lobbyist. They do not participate in election campaigns. They do not give contributions to political parties. We felt it was appropriate that they have a voice. Because the children of Canada are our future we have put them first in terms of our opposition day motions.