Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to take part in today's debate. As the chairman of the Prime Minister's task force on the four western provinces I must admit that I rise to speak today with mixed emotions. On the one hand I welcome the extra publicity that this debate will give our efforts to consult with Canadians across the prairies and in British Columbia. I did not expect this kind of a gift from the Reform Party of Canada.
On the other hand, I cannot imagine a more frivolous use of parliament's time. At a time when our nation is engaged in the most assertive military operation since the end of the Korean war the members of the Reform Party come forward with a motion that can only be described as silly. I strongly believe that Canadians do not appreciate silly stunts and that perhaps explains the Reform Party's dismal performance in yesterday's byelection in Windsor—St. Clair.
Simply put, the Reform motion claims that this government has not addressed regional concerns and calls upon the government to rename the task force which I am honoured to chair.
This motion, however, speaks to much more than renaming a task force; it speaks to a fundamental difference between the Liberal vision of this country and the Reform Party's vision.
The Liberal vision is of one Canada, stretching from sea to sea to sea, with all Canadians confidently working together to build the greatest country on earth.
The Reform vision is one of petty regionalism, a vision in which one region competes with another for attention, a vision in which the politics of division are more important than the politics of unity.
We, as Liberals, seek out the common threads that strengthen our nation, not the device of shards that would tear us apart. We recognize that as the national governing party we have a responsibility to all Canadians, regardless of where they live.
I suspect that the timing of this motion has something to do with the fact that the Prime Minister's task force on the four western provinces recently spent a very rewarding Easter break consulting and meeting with many Manitobans.
As I mentioned yesterday, the response to the task force was indeed overwhelming. In just three days task force members met with over 60 individuals and organizations from across my home province. Manitobans shared with us not only their concerns, but also their dreams for tomorrow. So popular were the meetings that we found it necessary to break into two teams to cover as much ground as possible.
The response we had throughout Manitoba and the number of requests we had for meetings in other western provinces proves one thing: western Canadians reject Reform's parochial regionalism.
Canadians in the four western provinces, in fact Canadians right across this great land, want a national government, not a bunch of regional ones. They want a national government that reaches out to all Canadians, regardless of where they live.
It is interesting to note that whenever the regional parties, be it the Reform Party or the Bloc Quebecois, realize that they are becoming increasingly irrelevant to most Canadians, they try to play the regional card. That is what we are witnessing today.
The Reform Party is sitting still in the polls. In fact, in yesterday's byelection, as I pointed out earlier, Reform placed fourth overall, behind the third place Tories. Combined, those two parties received a paltry 4,000 votes, compared to nearly 14,000 for the winning Liberal candidate. So much for the so-called united alternative. Rather than uniting it is splitting apart.
The Prime Minister's task force is being well received across western Canada. I can only conclude that the Reform Party feels so threatened that once again it is trying to divide Canadians into “them and us”.
The Prime Minister's task force on the four western provinces was established to meet with and listen to western Canadians. It is a mandate to build on the work of the government's western MPs and senators by simply providing western Canadians with another opportunity, one of many, to shape the national decision making process.
Despite what the Reform Party wants us to believe, there is actually really nothing new in the government's approach. It is simply the time honoured practice of consulting, talking to people, listening to people and hearing their concerns. There is no hidden agenda. There is no radical departure from what this government has done in the past.
While we were meeting with Manitobans a similar caucus task force was meeting with and listening to Quebecers. Another caucus task force was meeting with and listening to young entrepreneurs from across the country. In fact we heard from the chairman of that task force about an hour or two ago in the Chamber.
Since 1993, the year that we came to power, the government has established no less than nine such caucus task forces to meet with Canadians on issues as diverse as the impact of information technology on Canada and the future of our aging population.
The Liberal government has made a regular habit of consulting with Canadians from every region of the country and it will continue to do so.
Why have we made it a habit to consult with Canadians? Simply put, it is because the Prime Minister understands that we cannot run a country as large as this and as diverse as this from behind a desk here on Parliament Hill. We have to get out and meet with the people. We have to understand their concerns. We have to understand their dreams.
The Reform Party simply does not understand that government has to consult with the governed. That is why we are government and they are the opposition. That is why they are wasting parliament's time today with this silly motion.
The government's record shows the influence that Liberal parliamentarians from across the west have in setting government priorities. Every week western voices speak for the west in our national caucus meetings. Western Canadians told us that we had to restore faith and credibility in the nation's finances. The government listened and acted. We introduced the first balanced budget in 30 years, reduced taxes by $16.5 billion in our last two budgets and began paying down the national debt.
Western Canadians told us that we had to do something to ensure better access to education and improve the health care system. Again we listened and we acted. The government introduced the millennium scholarship program and increased health care spending by $11.5 billion. My province of Manitoba will receive $425 million in increased health care funding. When the farm income crisis erupted on the prairies we listened to western farmers and we acted. We introduced a $900 million farm aid package.
Are these the actions of a government that is indifferent to regional concerns? I do not think so. As someone who was born and raised in western Canada, as someone who has lived and worked most of his life in western Canada and as someone who represents over 77,000 western Canadians in this place, I can assure members of the Reform Party that western Canadians are not interested in playing regional games. They want a responsible national government that will help them create opportunities for the future.
Western Canada is a vibrant and exciting place. The region has experienced strong economic and population growth. The people have confidence in themselves and in their future. They are comfortable with their regional identities, but consider themselves Canadians first. The sooner the Reform Party recognizes this, the sooner the Reform Party will stop wasting parliament's time with silly motions.