Let me tell you something that hurts me and upsets me personally, as an individual, and I'd like your comments on it or how we can address it.
We are a prosperous nation, a nation that has done its duty internationally and domestically. We are blessed to find ourselves in surpluses and balanced budgets, but it upsets me as the son of a veteran when I see undertakings in various communities, in my community specifically, to raise money.
I will give you two examples of that: not just for our military, but for our athletes to go and represent Canada at the Olympics. I find that very upsetting when I see other nations that are literally bankrupt compared to us, and none of that unfolds.
I find it very disappointing that we have to conduct fundraising to support our families. Why?
Again, I'm putting this on the table constructively, because it hurts me, it upsets me, it embarrasses me as a member of Parliament as well. I find it difficult to answer these questions that I'm being asked when I find myself in my riding: “Why are we raising moneys for the families; why don't you guys take care of them?”
I know that back in 1994-95, even after program review, we addressed the payroll problems that were there, and slowly, as we came about doing that, we started to improve housing and so on. But what can we do to address this and to show the world out there that we ask our people to sign up and we are compensating them properly? Can you elaborate on that?