Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to answer the question put by the hon. member. What I said was that I felt, upon reading the budget speech, that once the budget would be balanced, the finance minister's objective would be to redistribute wealth and to fight child poverty.
The hon. member pointed out that the minister announced in his budget that $600 million would be allocated to that goal. Again, I tell the hon. member that, this year, there is barely $60 million earmarked for that initiative. And children are hungry now.
Earlier, I mentioned that children's parents were made poorer, to the tune of $17 billion. The provinces were deprived of $4.5 billion through cuts to social transfers, while $12.3 billion was taken from the unemployment insurance fund, after paying off the first accumulated deficit of $6 billion. So, 12.3 plus 6 equals 18; and 18 plus 4 equals 22 or 23 billion dollars. The government is offering $600 million, which is already not much. However, this offer includes an amount of only $60 million for this year. This is where the problem is; this is what is upsetting. It is an insult to the intelligence of Quebecers and Canadians.
The hon. member also pointed out that there is another $800 million for the health sector, through the Canada Foundation for Innovation. Where did the Liberals get that money? They just cut $4.5 billion in transfers to the provinces for the health sector. Now, we are told that the government will allocate $800 million to research. Again, this is an insult to the intelligence of people. And this amount of $800 million will not all be paid this year. The
government is distributing election goodies, but does not want us to unwrap the candy before the election.
I wonder about all this. Will Canadians and Quebecers be fooled by such a budget? Imagine how things will be when the Liberals are re-elected. They will not hesitate and there will be no candy.