Mr. Speaker, the federal government has abandoned the once prosperous community of Cape Tormentine.
Upon completion of the fixed link, the ferry service from the village of Cape Tormentine to Prince Edward Island ceased. The village lost not only the ferry but its prosperity as well.
Hope was to be restored with the announcement of new money under the Cape Tormentine redevelopment program. The federal government pledged $1.8 million to help offset the closure of Maritime Atlantic's terminal.
The program turned out to be nothing but a series of empty promises. Why is it? Perhaps because the provincial government had already exhausted half the funds allocated to the program.
This government is subsidizing the New Brunswick provincial Liberal's byelection campaign by pick-pocketing ACOA funds in order to finance projects for the department of agriculture and the department of economic development and tourism.
I demand that the minister ensure that the money supposed to go to the Cape Tormentine area gets to the people who need it. They have suffered long enough.