Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister. The government made a very firm commitment to the fight against poverty. Since then, however, it has slashed funding to education, social assistance and health. This morning the National Council on Welfare issued a statement reminding the government that it is responsible for the rise in poverty everywhere in the country.
Will the Deputy Prime Minister admit that, if the government is serious about wanting to really fight poverty, it must first and foremost hand back over to the provinces the billions of dollars it has cut from health, education and welfare, under the pretext of reducing its deficit?