Members Of Parliament Retiring Allowances  Mr. Speaker, a supplementary. Canadians want action on this immediately and so do members of Parliament who are making contributions to this pension plan today. We would like to know if the government intends to continue to force MPs to participate in the MPs' pension plan.

Taxation  There are many reasons to clean up our tax system and to restore Canadians' faith in it. But surely what it is doing to our nation's value system ought to make reform of our tax system a major priority in the upcoming federal budget.

Speech From The Throne  I do not remember the exact numbers but it was very clear that the Canadian system was among the most efficient and the least expensive in the world. Every time there is talk of fiscal reform, of tackling the debt or the annual deficit, the main targets, the first ones to be singled out are health care and social services. Let us not forget that since 1990, the most vulnerable members of society have grown in number.

Speech From The Throne  Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. On behalf of the members present I would like to thank Mr. Bill Corbett and his son for recognizing each member flawlessly during this first recorded vote.

Speech From The Throne  Mr. Speaker, I would first like to take this opportunity, both as a friend and as a colleague, to congratulate you on your election as the Deputy Speaker. As you know, we go back many years. My wife and I had the privilege of working on your first campaign when we were both members of another party, but that is another story.

Speech From The Throne  If we are able to, and we will as a government, get more capital into the hands of small business people, we will in fact create long term jobs. When we reform the tax system in this country we will be creating long term jobs. When we are able to cut through the red tape that small businessmen and women have to face every day then we will be creating long term jobs.

Speech From The Throne  Mr. Speaker, I was interested to hear the member's description of his riding. I think everyone in the House so far has described their riding as the most beautiful riding in all of Canada. Maybe I will do that next week. Congratulations to the member on his maiden speech. I was also interested in his comments about 90 per cent of businesses being created by small business, which of course is not a government intervention but a small business initiative.

Speech From The Throne  Mr. Speaker, I wish to congratulate the member for Parry Sound-Muskoka. It is indeed one of the most beautiful and picturesque areas of the country. I appreciate his comments, as do other members of the House I am sure, concerning the sacrifice that all of our families endure with our being here.

Speech From The Throne  Mr. Speaker, I thank you for leaving me enough time to answer the question. I appreciate that we only have ten minutes and that he has five. There is no question that people are a great resource. One has to wonder why people lack confidence today in our government and in our system.

Speech From The Throne  Certainly there is no chance of it ever working unless we place a spending cap on the budget, live by it and plan to honour it. To ignore the problem certainly is not going to be the answer either so let us all recognize that this is a problem, but not a revenue problem. My party believes very strongly that we do not have a revenue problem.

Speech From The Throne  Sounds good to me. My concept of Canada is a Canada economically strong and self-reliant. If we are ever to achieve self-reliance we must eliminate the federal deficit. This year alone the deficit could reach $46 billion. The national debt has topped the $500 billion mark and it increases by $85,600 a minute.

Speech From The Throne  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the minister for his speech and congratulate him on his perennial re-election in his constituency of Winnipeg South Centre along with his appointment to cabinet in an important post which reflects a great deal of confidence in him on the part of his party and leader.

Speech From The Throne  Speaker, let the Minister of Human Resources Development know that we will keep a watchful eye on him and demand the reforms that are needed.

Speech From The Throne  Mr. Speaker, I would also like to congratulate the hon. member for Davenport on his re-election. He was an accomplished opposition member in the old Parliament. Now he obviously plays a different role on the government side. In that position I would like him to clarify his remarks on a couple of items.

Business Of The House  Mr. Speaker, I have already informally mentioned to the House leaders of the Reform and Bloc that the government would be happy to give consent to continuing beyond the normal hour of adjournment on Tuesday and Wednesday. I had originally suggested that we might agree on a later time of adjournment, say ten o'clock.