Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm sure Mr. Scott will remember back in the nineties, when the Liberals were cutting their programs. Most certainly, as fast as they were cutting some programs, they were creating new ones. When we were calling for real net cuts to be made, the Liberals were basically doing a saw-off, and as they cut money in one program, they would start it up in a new one and increase taxes along the way to somehow try to pay for their indiscretions in managing the finances of the country.
I'm listening to the presenters, and in fact I do appreciate what some of the presenters, Madam DeBellefeuille and Ms. Nash, have to say. I know that in their hearts they're genuinely concerned about the arts. I know that in the parts of the country they come from the arts are certainly important, and they're advocates for those people who participate in the arts. I truly believe that in their presentations they mean everything they say.
With all due respect, while I understand their sincerity, when we took office this government committed to have a new way of managing the tax dollars of Canada, and of course strategic reviews are happening in every department, including this one. By contrast, realistically there will never be an opportunity for the Bloc to show Canadians how they can manage the tax dollars that come into Ottawa, and realistically, likely there will never be an opportunity for the NDP to show Canadians how they prudently manage tax dollars that come into the country. So from a sincerity point of view regarding what Madam DeBellefeuille and Ms. Nash are talking about, I certainly embrace that. From an accountability point of view, when we're talking about what things cost, I think their arguments are a little unrealistic, because they don't have to balance the books and they never will have to.
On the other hand, we have the Liberals on the other side, who have a history of bad management of the tax dollars of this country. Mr. Coderre, bless his heart, always gives us good material. He talked about a radical 5 p.m. Friday announcement regarding the rationalization of some funding within Heritage Canada. As a matter of fact, it works out to about 2% of the total budget, 2.3% of $40 million, to Canadian Heritage. Talk about radical announcements. At least we made them.
Coincidentally, regarding the $40 million that's missing from the sponsorship fund, they didn't make the announcement that it was missing or misspent or given to their friends or put into the Liberal campaign coffers; they actually got caught. And isn't it coincidental that that was $40 million as well? The $40 million that they misspent, shifted off to secret bank accounts and coffers of their friends, was simply missing from the coffers of Canada, no longer able to be used to the benefit of Canadians and the arts and culture in this country because it wasn't there anymore. It was missing from the coffers of the government, so the government couldn't spend it. I think hypocrisy is the name of the game here.
I appreciate Mr. Coderre most times. The sad thing is that he was smack in the middle of that sponsorship program when the $40 million went missing--smack in the middle of it--and now he sits here.