Mr. Speaker, we have known for a number of years that the federal government is making surpluses. A round of extravagant spending has begun.
Thus, The Minister of Human Resources Development, with the help of the enforcement assistance fund, provided $35,000 for a study on the establishment of a technological company in the Asbestos RCM. This financial assistance to one person represents and will always represent structural duplication, because there existed and still exists a federally funded CFDC, a community futures development corporation and a Government of Quebec funded CLD.
How can the member for Winnipeg North—St. Paul justify his government's use of the surplus in the employment insurance fund, which, by the way, should be set aside solely for future users, that is, the unemployed? How can he justify his government's spending $35,000 to duplicate structures?
Why, for example, did he not give this money to the very responsible diversification committee in the Asbestos RCM, chaired by Jacques Lussier? Or why did he not give it to the community futures development corporation, chaired by Raymond Simon, the mayor of Pontbriand, a corporation governed by the federal government, or to the CLD, headed by Rivard Beaudoin?
The awarding of this $35,000 to a single individual, who spent barely five months on his study, represents high class social assistance.