Mr. Speaker, on several occasions the government has been criticized for politicizing ACOA. The facts do not support this allegation. Indeed, any objective view would indicate that our support at ACOA is focused more heavily on the rural areas than on urban ones, on young people, on women entrepreneurs and on building a brighter future for all four Atlantic provinces.
Critics opposed to ACOA's very existence use flawed data to put forward their complaints. Then the analysis is picked up and repeated. In the past it has been our pattern to simply ignore those errors, but no more. We now believe that it is crucial to point out that criticisms such as these are simply wrong and are a deliberate attempt to distort the facts. ACOA makes its decisions based on good projects brought forward by good people in the business community and in communities across Atlantic Canada.
I know the hon. member supports the principles that led to the “Rising Tide” report because he recently told a New Brunswick paper that the Atlantic Conservative caucus “will develop a policy and that nothing will go forward until we develop that policy”. The hon. member clearly recognizes the role of caucus in developing government policy.