Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's comments damning regional economic programs as nothing more than ineffective corporate welfare and his current preoccupation with satisfying other regions of Canada, I am concerned that he was conveniently ignoring economic development in the Atlantic region.
Without sufficient investments in this area, the region will never again achieve the economic success it enjoyed when it joined Confederation. This does not seem to bother the Prime Minister. A true commitment to regional development of Canada would have been demonstrated by some mention of it in the budget. Obviously Atlantic Canada is not a priority of the new government.
To conclude, the Conservative Party came to the plate in 2006 and it cannot seem to get the ball out of the infield. It is positioned with a world-leading economy, the best fiscal record in Canadian history. Despite the boons blessed upon it, left by the previous Liberal government, we discover the Conservatives cannot make it to home plate. Nowhere do we see the commitment to a national vision articulated and implemented by the previous Liberal government and nowhere do we see the fiscal commitment continuing the prosperity trend established by the previous Liberal government.