Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In fact, we could have great respect for the Senate if it was elected and if we had an equal number of senators from each province, which would balance the problems we have in the country. Representation by population with regional concerns could very effectively be addressed and balanced by having an efficiently functioning Senate, with equal numbers from each province elected and, therefore, democratically chosen by the people, as opposed to being appointed, which only adds to that feeling of western alienation when an Ottawa-based Prime Minister appoints someone to represent us.
I know the people of Alberta feel the same way. They have a senatorial election act and they have elected two senators in waiting. They are asking the Prime Minister to respect their democratically chosen people, but the Prime Minister continues to excite western alienation feelings by ignoring the expressed will of the Alberta people and appointing his own people to the Senate.
I have been urging the Premier of Saskatchewan to enact a similar act so that we could elect our senators. We could have senators elect, or senators in waiting, so that the next time there is a vacancy we could plead with the Prime Minister to appoint our choice for Senate representation. I hope that the Premier of Saskatchewan will eventually come around to my way of thinking.
I also want to point out that there is an agriculture crisis on the prairies. It is a very severe situation, due to factors for which the government is responsible, such as an inefficient grain transportation system. The Canadian Wheat Board is an Ottawa controlled marketing system for our grain in the west.
Liberal priorities are skewed. Instead of lowering taxes for farmers and helping them through this crisis, instead of reforming our grain marketing and transportation systems and bringing forward responsible legislation, the government brought forward this budget which will continue to gouge Canadians, making us continue to pay excessive levels of taxation, and our money will be wasted.