Mr. Speaker, I have a couple of questions for the member from Nova Scotia. He has accepted the premise of the budget about improving the economy and moving us forward. In particular, I want to talk about the children of the working poor, many of whom I know live in Nova Scotia and for whom Nova Scotians are looking to the member for representation.
This morning in a news conference in Ottawa on Parliament Hill, the federal New Democratic Party leader Alexa McDonough urged the federal government to reverse plans hidden in the budget from Tuesday that will cut benefits for some 288,000 children of working poor in this country.
She released some evidence, including copies of newspaper clippings from Toronto yesterday, that women living in the Toronto area were shocked to find out that they will get less money under the new program once it is brought into place than they were getting to date.
It is noted that the combined working income supplement and the child tax benefit for families with one child will be $1,625 under the new proposal instead of the $1,770 that they are getting today. This represents a 20 per cent cut in benefits for roughly 40 per cent of those estimated to be Canada's working poor families.
I want to ask the member whether he believes that this information is correct. If it is, would he work to help change the direction that is being taken by the government with regard to this part of the budget?
My second question deals with the lack of attention that the budget paid to the goods and services tax. The House had a major debate here over the harmonization of the GST for three of the four Atlantic provinces. I was not present to hear comments from the hon. member from the Halifax area with regard to the harmonization of the GST.
I see that the Senate is about to hold hearings in Atlantic Canada, something the House of Commons and the government chose not to do. Therefore I am wondering if the member would appear before the Senate committee touring Atlantic Canada and what he would say.