Mr. Speaker, the hon. member said that we were poised for economic greatness. Earlier his colleague, the member for Guelph—Wellington, talked about balancing the situation in the country. Let me talk about that balance a bit. I think the member from Guelph indicated that the unemployment rate in her region was 5%. This member has spoken about an unemployment rate of 7% nationally. The unemployment rate in my riding is 19%. The unemployment rate on the aboriginal reserve in my riding is 85%.
So I will ask the hon. member a serious question, not rhetoric. Would he not agree with me that much of the thrust of the budget, the centres for excellence which he talked about and the new spending above and beyond the transitional jobs funds should be directed to those regions in this country, and my riding is not the only one, with the highest unemployment rates so we can see those centres of excellence in places like Cape Breton, northern Manitoba and eastern Newfoundland? Would he not agree that would be a sensible way to direct the funding of those initiatives?