Mr. Speaker, yesterday in this House, the Minister of Human Resources Development stated:
If it is only a matter of transferring funds with no strings attached, then they will have to speak to someone other than me, because I am not in the habit of sending money anywhere without making sure the interests of Canadian taxpayers are protected.
My question is for the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. Are we to understand from what his colleague, the Minister of Human Resources Development, says that the government does not trust the provinces to administer the taxpayers' money in areas which are exclusively a provincial jurisdiction, and furthermore has no intention of withdrawing from any areas except those in which it does not have even a cent of financial involvement?