Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his intervention. He talked about the partisanship of this debate. The opposition parties are for the most part challenging the government about its priorities in spending cuts.
It seems the federal government spending cuts have been made mostly off the backs of the provinces. Then the government comes back by saying it has given the provinces some tax credits. Now that the federal government has a surplus it says that the provincial governments can tax their citizens instead of the federal government doing so. This leads to a serious trickle down effect.
I will bring some examples from my constituency to the debate. I would like government members to listen to what is happening to some of the rural areas in Canada. A mother who went to the hospital to give birth told me there was one nurse there who covered the labour and delivery rooms and looked after the nursery. I have heard from people who have had to go to four doctors in the last year because the first three doctors had left the community. I have heard doctors say that they have come to the country at the request of boards but that when their temporary work permits expire they cannot reinstate them. The immigration department will not open the door for them because there is not a slot for more doctors. These are the consequences of such cuts to individual grassroots Canadians in rural constituencies—