Mr. Speaker, what I just heard is simply absurd. I think the hon. member of the Reform Party needs a good dose of real life.
He quoted statistics and figures, and meanwhile, some terrible things are happening, and the hon. member of the Reform Party does not see anything at all. I wonder whether people come and see him at his riding office and whether he ever had specific cases involving battered women and women who were unemployed and had children who did not get anything to eat for breakfast.
In my riding, I see this regularly. In my riding, we have two shelters for battered women and only 20 spaces altogether. We do not have enough locations to help these women.
I would appreciate it if the hon. member would tell me if in his own riding he sees these people and really tries to help them instead of trotting out figures and statistics like he is doing now, information that to me is absolutely irrelevant. I see what is going on in my riding, and I must say it is not a pretty picture.
When we have a recession like the one we have just been through, guess what happens? The crime rate goes up, and women and children pay the price. I cannot believe that everything is just fine in his riding because of these statistics. I hope that when he gets back to his riding on the weekend, his wife will forgive him for the speech he made here in the House.