Mr. Speaker, I listened very intently to the hon. member's intervention. He spoke of a coin and said that every coin has two sides to it. Then he went on with his remarks about that coin.
What the hon. member failed to mention is that coin belongs to the Canadian taxpayer. That coin is held in trust by the federal government and when we have enough coins in the pot, then and only then has the federal government time and time again issued a promise through subsequent budgets to the Canadian taxpayer that 50 cents of every dollar would go to social programs and that 50 cents would go to tax cuts and reducing our national debt.
First, I wonder if the hon. member would acknowledge that coin does belong to the Canadian taxpayer and that the great province of Quebec has the opportunity and enjoys every advantage with every region in this country to be a part of our country and to have all the coins necessary, equally so with every province in the country, to the benefit of each and every one of the member's constituents and every Quebecer.
Second, the hon. member spoke of the debacle in the airline industry. I am certain that the hon. member understands and will apologize. He is a member of the Standing Committee on Transport of which I have the privilege of being the chair. He was a member of the committee when we went through six weeks of intense hearings to produce, if you can imagine, Mr. Speaker, a report on the restructuring of the airline industry that was endorsed by every party in the House. That report and study was so successful—