Leaders' Salaries  Mr. Speaker, in the absence of the spokesman for the committee, the member for Saint-Léonard, I would like to inform the House that I have obtained information. I am informed that what the then commissioners of internal economy did before the last election was based on precedents dating back for several elections and there is nothing different or untoward.

Immigration  Mr. Speaker, I understand the concern of the hon. member and the party she represents. I want to reassure her that this government and this minister feel equally as passionately about defending our borders and our system. However, privacy laws preclude me from entering into a debate as the hon. member wishes me to do.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question from the hon. member for Hamilton-Wentworth. It allows me to state that this indeed is good news and that there will be some substantial improvement in the economic standing of this country. It is clear that the government's commitment to implement its infrastructure program, its commitment to develop the Canada investment fund and to improve the access to capital by small and medium size business has been very well received by the business community in this country.

Immigration  Mr. Speaker, I just want to share with the member and the House the frustration we all feel when individuals such as the one the member mentions pursue access to immigration programs. I want to assure the member and all Canadians that this government will have a fair and progressive immigration policy.

Infrastructure Program  Mr. Speaker, we are not going to borrow more money to produce our $2 billion for this program. We have said time and time again, and it is in the red book if the hon. member wants to refer to that document, that we will do it through reallocation. We are not going to add to the debt.

Infrastructure Program  Mr. Speaker, there is no obligation on the part of any municipality to participate in this program. But I must tell him that we are inundated with requests from municipalities for information because they want to be a part of the program. In their meeting with the Prime Minister on December 21 the 10 provincial premiers agreed to participate in this program.

Intergovernmental Affairs  Mr. Speaker, if I understand correctly the background to this question, I do not believe that the previous government made a formal commitment to reimburse these costs.

Auditor General's Report  Mr. Speaker, this has nothing to do with how one makes a budget. Voting after the budget is one thing. How to prepare a budget is something else. If the Minister of Finance reveals what he will do while preparing the budget, he would be forced to resign. Some ministers in England have had to resign.

Voter's Rights  Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we are doing. We have done a lot of things to bring back respect for this institution. One of the ways we have done it, for example, happened in the House this week. Everybody says the mood is much better, there are fewer catcalls, or whatever, from members.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, the chief has stated publicly that the matter is closed. I stated that yesterday. There is no damage to the helicopter or to the planes. I would like to repeat the position of the Government of Canada in English. The natives believe that their reserves are sovereign.

Multiculturalism  Mr. Speaker, the comments made yesterday in the House that suggested multiculturalism creates ghettos are wrong. Some members seem to believe new Canadians will flock together in abject poverty if multiculturalism is allowed to continue. This is absurd. To its credit, the Government of Canada wants new Canadians to retain their culture and heritage.

Poverty  Mr. Speaker, the city of Winnipeg has the highest percentage of low income households in western Canada. Twelve thousand households use food banks every month, almost three times as many as in 1990. Unfortunately there has been a collective growth in the number of people using food banks across the country.

Speech From The Throne  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his question. Yes, we probably do have similar rural areas in our constituencies in the provinces of Nova Scotia and Quebec. There is no doubt I feel certain parts of the government are too centralized. They should be partly relocated to the areas where they generally would fit into the activities of that area.

Speech From The Throne  Mr. Speaker, I want to agree with the hon. member's comment that the social economic condition is extremely important to health care. The Minister of Human Resources Development is certainly looking at ways of improving the social safety net and making better use of every dollar spent.

Speech From The Throne  I thank the hon. member for his kind words. I do not think we are going to have to wait very long for very many decisions. The decisions and the problems that the government is looking at right now are going to be handled with the help of all Canadians. Most of the ministers have spoken already in the House and talked of the process where they are going to be opening up the decision making.