Mr. Speaker, if Canadians think that the one billion dollar boondoggle at human resources smacks of political payoff, they should also know that questionable use of taxpayers' resources by way of grants is not exclusive to HRDC.
At a time when the RCMP has faced budgetary cutbacks of $169 million and some 430 frontline B.C. RCMP positions go lacking, affecting their ability to investigate and fight crime, the Minister of Justice has $32 million to spend on crime prevention. Guess where $2 million of this is going. It is going to none other than national lobby groups, no doubt with impeccable Liberal credentials.
The Minister of Justice gave $2 million to such crime fighters as the Canadian Bankers Association, the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association, the Insurance Council of Canada and the Retail Council of Canada.
Maybe an audit should be conducted into the crimes they solved. Maybe the Liberal House leader has it in his binder.