Madam Speaker, I share my colleague's concern about what is happening with these funds.
I remind the House that in Canada today the Liberal government takes $7 billion a year in income tax from people making less than $20,000 a year. Then it turns around and funnels that money through HRDC and puts it back into funding friends of the Liberal Party and members of the Liberal government. In some cases the money goes to huge corporations. That is fundamentally wrong. I cannot believe members on that side of the House would stand for it.
In Canada today under the Liberal government, taxpayers pay income tax after they have earned $7,031. That money goes to the finance minister and then over to the human resources development minister who in turn sends it to companies.
I applaud my friend for pointing out that there are people in his riding who are getting this money. I applaud him for exposing this. It is quite unlike the member for Fredericton who thinks that government is Santa Claus and the purpose of government is to distribute goodies. That is not the purpose of government.
Government should be there in a limited way, not to interfere in the economy. We all agree that government should be there to keep the peace to ensure that we have criminal courts and decent defence for our country. Those are the things the government should do. It should not try to micromanage the economy. I cannot believe that at the beginning of the 21st century the government still thinks the role of government is to try to pick winners in the economy, when all of history shows it simply cannot be done.