Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to comment on that because it is a really sore point with me. I wrote a column in our local newspapers recently in which I talked about health care. I said that the problem would not be fixed nationally until we had a government in Ottawa that was more interested in buying MRI machines than in building a fountain in Shawinigan. That is exactly what I wrote in my column. That is the essence of the situation. Far too many, not all, of the grants and contributions are simply about politics.
I speak from memory and could be corrected, but I think recently the Prime Minister travelled to Cape Breton Island to make a big announcement about money the federal government was pouring into the area. If it is not about politics why did the Prime Minister have to go?
I had the same situation in my riding in terms of the infrastructure program. If the money was coming to my riding from taxpayers via the federal government, why do they not just get the cheque? It was required that the neighbouring minister, one of the two Alberta Liberals, make a trip into my riding to deliver the cheque. That is about politics. That is what is wrong about it. When these things are motivated by politics they get totally skewed.
I remember also in Prince Edward Island the person receiving the grant made a statement: “Mr. Prime Minister, you were here when we needed you and I can assure you at the next election we will be there for you”. That is on the public record.