Okay. The answer is now made public. Your government tried to cover it up, but you threw away two million essential face masks last year and 440,000 medical gloves. That's in addition to the 16 tonnes of personal protective equipment you sent outside of the country, leaving many people scrambling.
I had a call from a member of Parliament today who is literally driving around to seniors homes and providing them with face masks. There are no other supplies, your stockpiles having been emptied. He was shocked to learn that HST applies on the purchase of essential medical and personal protective equipment. In addition to having driven up the price of this equipment by throwing it away and giving it away, your government is actually taxing this essential equipment.
On behalf of the official opposition, I'm prepared to call on you to lift the HST off personal protective equipment. Would you commit here and now that your government will stop taxing this vital equipment to make it more affordable for groups and facilities that desperately need that equipment at this time?