Mr. Speaker, the hon. member from the Progressive Conservative Party was wondering if any of us were old enough to remember back to 1979. I certainly assure the House that I am old enough to remember. I remember the years of Brian Mulroney and Joe Clark handling the finances of the nation and driving us deeply, by hundreds of billions of dollars, into debt through their fiscal management.
The debate today deals with the budget and budgetary matters. Certainly modernizing the tax regime is an essential element in Canada today so that we can be prepared for the future.
One area is the medical provisions of the Income Tax Act. I have a little story to tell about the Boonstra family in my riding who has a two year old child with a serious case of diabetes which requires four injections every day. This is putting mammoth costs on the Boonstras but they do not qualify under the income tax provisions for a disabled child.
What would the member think if there could be some changes to the provisions of the Income Tax Act to broaden the definition of disability to include people like this two year old child in Manitoba?