Mr. Speaker, at the time we took office, transfers to the provinces had been declining for nearly a decade. When we took office we put in place a series of cuts in our own spending that allowed us in the last budget to commit to the provinces that not only were the transfer cuts at an end but that the transfers were now put on a formula that would allow them to increase in the years ahead.
The leader of the Reform Party used words like gouge, scrape and cut. Let me quote from "A Fresh Start for Canadians", Reform's most recent program. The Reform Party has said: "On top of the existing reductions in transfers, the Reform Party, on taking office, will immediately cut three and a half billion dollars from the Canadian health and social transfer". What do you call that?