Mr. Speaker, I want to take the hon. member to task for a number of things he has said.
He said that the rebate on the GST to municipalities is not a worthwhile endeavour. I am sure that the Federation of Canadian Municipalities will be very curious to find out why the hon. member is taking a position that is so diametrically opposed to that which our municipal colleagues are asking us to do.
I was at a meeting with the county council of Prescott-Russell two weeks before the throne speech. The hon. member does not have to believe me; he can phone the warden of the counties himself and I will give him the phone number, but the one issue they raised was to ask for the rest of the rebate on the GST. That is the one thing they raised. The night of the throne speech, I went back to my office prior to going to the celebrations which a number of us attended, and the one phone call I made was to the county warden congratulating him for having in the throne speech that which he wanted. I say that to the hon. member.
I also say to the hon. member that he was not accurate in the accusations he made against the Prime Minister or anyone else in the House. The Prime Minister has produced for us a very excellent, as we know it, throne speech. That is a very different issue from reinstating the bills that we have passed, or at least enabling ministers to reinstate legislation. The hon. member does not want us to reinstate bills. That means he does not respect the fact that the House has already voted on those bills. He does not want us to recognize the democratic exercise that has already taken place. Why is he against that?