Madam Speaker, again that was a very thoughtful question from my friend in terms of pointing out what the government did in the budget to inflict pain on a lot of people who have been experiencing and living in pain for many years now.
This was an opportunity for the government to extend some care, concern and compassion to those men, women and families who have suffered so much during the difficult years of restraint. This was the opportunity.
The government has the money. Before it said that it did not have the money and now it has it. It had the money to improve health care. It had the money to support education. It had the money to help people who did not have jobs. In other words, the government could have acted in a number of areas that would have reflected on the value of caring, but it chose not to.
That is fair. It is a free country. However let the record show that when the Minister of Finance had the opportunity to help Canadians who needed help, he chose not to do so.