There is the minister saying we should be ashamed of ourselves. The government should be ashamed.
This is a firm that has been in business for 40 years and did not get one penny from the government to support what it was doing in Canada. The friends of the government did and they did not ask. It is amazing that they did not ask. However lots of other people did.
The national sportsmen's show spokesman was reduced to a whisper when told the Groupe Polygone show received over a million. He said individuals who give them $75,000 for a full sponsorship get their name and logo plastered from here to eternity. He could not imagine where all the logos, flags, pictures of the Prime Minister and perhaps pictures of Alfonso Gagliano would be hung for that kind of money.
The government of Quebec kicked in $25,000 to that show and received as much exposure as the Liberals received for $1 million. That is what Canadians are upset about. We have nothing to be ashamed of on this side of the House for bringing that kind of thing to the floor of the House.
For its money Quebec got two booths, newspaper ads and a plastic pool where kids could try to catch fish. Groupe Polygone obviously caught a fish, the species we call the federal Liberal sucker. What did the Liberals get? An aboriginal booth and a logo display for $1 million. There is no comparison. That is why we need an independent inquiry to look into this mess. Those questions have to be asked.
Let me touch on the subject of volunteer firefighters in Canada. It has always been a great method of the Liberal government to attack the opposition because we also ask for grants sometimes for our constituents, which is part of our job as MPs. The volunteer firefighters are brave, selfless individuals who contribute much to many communities around the world.
I wrote a letter in support of their request for matching funds for the sponsorship program because they are having an international gathering on Vancouver Island. Some 3,000 of them from around the world and about 3,000 from Canada are meeting at a convention. My letter of support was hauled out and used as evidence by the Deputy Prime Minister that all members of parliament tried to solicit funds for events in their ridings.
The Liberals are complete strangers to British Columbia. They did not realize that my riding is on the mainland and not on Vancouver Island. It is called an island for another reason, and it is one. It is an insult to the volunteer firefighters across Canada and around the world. The Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister should apologize. The firefighters did not get any money but they are bringing lots of people here.