Mr. Speaker, indeed I would like to ask a question of my colleague from the Reform Party. He said in his speech that any of the problems in terms of agriculture should rest on the heads of this government and the previous Conservative government. I would like the hon. member to acknowledge that the Reform Party should share in some of the blame.
In 1993 when members of the Reform Party arrived here in any significant numbers they said to the government that they opposed all government subsidies for agriculture and that everything should be based on market driven forces. I submit to the hon. member from Manitoba that the situation is a result of these programs. The finance minister over there put on his Cheshire cat grin and asked how much Reformers would like him to cut. Indeed the government has cut programs by about 60%, three times more than it was required to in 1993. I would submit that was done because it wanted the deficit eliminated as fast as possible. The Reform Party was sitting over here, the only party with official party status from English Canada at the time, and the government could not do it fast enough.
Would the hon. member stand in his place and agree that the Reform Party has contributed directly to the agricultural crisis that is happening right now in western Canada?