Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for his question. I know he has some firsthand evidence with respect to his own situation and I appreciate that he brings that to the debate.
However, I listened in astonishment to the sheer hypocrisy of the kinds of things he said when in fact it was the Reform Party in its fresh start and in its so-called 1995 taxpayer's budget that called for a $3 billion cut in transfers to provinces for health, post-secondary education and welfare.
Added to that was another $3.6 billion to other transfers. On top of that, as if that were not enough, there was another $7.4 billion slashed from programs funded directly by the federal government for things like seniors' pensions and employment insurance and another $1 billion in cuts to social security, for a grand total of $15 billion.
The sheer audacity of the member opposite to get up and raise that kind of garbage is beyond comprehension. It is the Reform Party that should take a look in the mirror to see what programs it would cut and decimate in the process Canada and our social union.