As I was saying, before I so rudely interrupted myself, the cost of this budget and why we need the minister here to discuss it and be held accountable for two hours—not one, but two hours, and we haven't been able to get a commitment for two hours—is because food bank usage is at an all-time high.
I'm sure that the government likes to talk about its input costs and how much it spends. It doesn't seem to like to talk too much about its output achievements. I'm sure that one of its proudest achievements is how food banks usage is at an all-time high. Food Banks Canada recorded one and a half million visits to food banks in just one month, which is a 35% increase compared to last year.
I'm sure that's a question we'd like to put to the Minister of Finance in our “finding Freeland” exercise, but we understand. We thought it would be a “freeing” Freeland exercise, because we thought the PMO may have been preventing her from coming, but apparently we're back to “finding Freeland”, because we're not getting any response from her either in the House—because it was another minister answering today—or through the committee that she's willing to be here for two hours.
If she could spare us two hours—