Mr. Speaker, the last Liberal budget confirmed the inability of the technocrat who acts as Minister of Human Resources Development to protect the poor in our society.
A budget that provides an annual tax reduction of $2,123 to a person earning $250,000, compared to a measly $115 for someone earning $30,000 shows nothing but contempt for democracy and fairness, and is shameful.
How did the Minister of Finance manage to grant such reductions to his rich friends after having targeted for five years the poor, the students and those on welfare, and after shamelessly dipping into the employment insurance fund? Words are not strong enough to condemn the contempt shown by this government toward the poor.
The Bloc Quebecois demands that the Liberal government use the EI surpluses to improve a system that has reduced hundreds of thousands of honest workers to poverty.