Mr. Speaker, I would like to address my comments, not so much to the details of my Reform colleague's speech as I thought he put a good argument forward, but more or less to the main message, that we need to cut faster, cut deeper and get to a balanced budget quicker.
Reform Party members do a good job in identifying the costs of carrying a heavy deficit and a heavy debt. Unfortunately I do not think they do a bit in terms of identifying the costs of the cuts themselves.
They use Alberta as an example of a government that has done a good job in getting its finances in order. They have failed to point out that in Alberta, for example, the rise of children coming into care with the Children's Aid Society has risen by 21 per cent since Premier Klein started to cut provincial spending. Why is that? Poor people. Their abuse rates did not go up but people simply could not afford to keep their children. Is that the Canada we want to live in?
In my province of Ontario, Michael Harris has cut welfare payments on the theory that it would encourage people to find work. When I checked with municipal officials after the welfare cuts, they were telling me that all it has done is force people to choose between feeding their children and paying their rent. Now they are being forced to move and live on the streets.