Mr. Speaker, I am flabbergasted to hear comments such as the ones that were just made, particularly by the last two government members.
They are telling us things could not be any better. They even made up a poll to demonstrate their point of view. The government is hiding the facts. Canada is the greatest country in the world, Canada is the richest country in the world. Every time such comments are made, someone rises to remind the government that our country has the highest unemployment rate, that it has the largest number of poor, hungry children, that it has the most trouble with its debt.
What does it mean to be the greatest and the richest country in the world? Where is this wealth? With so many unemployed, so many poor children, so many people having a hard time finding jobs, where is the wealth?
It must be in the hands of those who control it. We are asking the government to stop.
We agree that debt reduction should be a priority. However, we disagree with the means used to achieve this result. We are telling the government: “The idea is good, but do not implement it in this fashion. Stop asking the weakest in the family to make an effort to pay off the family's debts. They should not have to do that. They will do their share, but the other family members must also do theirs”.
Let us stop putting the burden on the most vulnerable ones. This is what we are asking the government, but it is so concerned by its public image that it no longer sees reality. It merely says: “We are the best, we are the finest. We meet with world leaders. We go to Russia and bend over backwards”. Meanwhile, 1.4 million Canadian children go hungry. The national unemployment rate exceeds 10% and the government is burying its head in the sand.
I wish the Liberals would wake up and realize it is time to set more appropriate objectives, such as those proposed this morning by NDP members, even though we do not fully agree with them. We tell them too that the target is right. However, in order to hit that target, they seem prepared to give up all the powers granted to the provinces and give them back to the federal government. This is what concerns us, and we will discuss this issue. Again, even though we may agree on a given objective, different means must be used to achieve it.