Mr. Speaker, I will try to keep my eyes focused on you and just kind of have that listening ear, because I know that at times the Conservatives will be a little sensitive because of all the generosity of ideas we provided the government when the Liberals were in opposition. We are the only political party that has been in government that has consistently argued that investment in infrastructure in Canada is the way to go, and that is because we believe in it.
Now we are challenging the government to take it to the next level, and that means recognizing that it has to have a strategy and be prepared to look at long-term investment. That means the Conservatives have to start meeting with and talking with the stakeholders. I have only been challenged on that particular issue. This is the only Prime Minister who has not had a premiers' conference where he has actually sat down with all the premiers. At least, I do not think he has actually met with all the premiers around one table. He prefers one on one.
There is something to be said for meeting with all of the premiers and saying that infrastructure is important to our nation, and by having that group meeting they bring in their supports and staff for the premiers' offices. We should be incorporating our first nations and our territories in this discussion. There is phenomenal infrastructure that needs to be dealt with in regard to our first nation reserves, but the government should bring them to the table and actually come up with a larger plan, like the Kelowna accord was a larger plan. We need to develop a larger plan. We need to see the Prime Minister demonstrate that he is prepared to pony up in terms of money and resources, but also demonstrate that he is prepared to commit the time that is necessary and to work with other levels of government and with our first nations and other stakeholders and see what we can do to address this infrastructure.
As I have indicated, if Ottawa does not come to the table, is not prepared to play that leadership role that is so badly needed today, we will never be able to deal with the infrastructure deficit we have. That is why it was encouraging to see the opposition day motion and why we believe it is worthy of support.
I have talked about some of the other projects we have done and seen in the past, but there is so much more. Over the weekend I had someone bring up the need for a Kenaston underpass. I can recall individuals like Reg Alcock and many others, individuals not only in Winnipeg but outside of Winnipeg, who have talked about a Kenaston underpass and asked what the future is for a Kenaston underpass. Right now there is no such thing, but there is a huge demand for it. Without the federal government coming to the table, the likelihood of work taking place is greatly diminished.
We are talking about significant dollars and if the government were to canvass the many different municipalities that are out there and canvass the needs of our first nations, we would find it getting well into the billions of dollars.
I conclude my remarks by appealing to the Prime Minister and suggesting that he needs to take the issue of strategic planning more seriously; he needs to start working and consulting with the different stakeholders who are out there. At the end of the day we are denying positive economic and social activity by not investing in our infrastructure. I highly recommend that the government support this motion and I look forward to having the opportunity to put it to a vote.