Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Dartmouth for that question. I think it is a very important one. Whether it is a physical disability or a mental disability it is very real. It causes distress in those families and for that individual. I think it should qualify in the same way that a physical disability qualifies.
We all know of families and individuals who have those kinds of problems and we all know about the difficulty they have in adapting to and functioning in society. In fact, I think some of the problems we have on our streets these days are related to that very problem: people with mental disabilities who need help.
I want to say one more thing on this. As members of Parliament we have constituents that deal with this all the time on other issues. Canada pension plan disability is another one. We have people coming in about that. What is really sad, I would say, is that in most cases the attitude of the government is to turn down those people on their first request. Why would the government not just consider the case on its merits the first time? It seems to be a government policy to completely deny all those people on their first request. Then they have to go through the whole process a second time on appeal and apply again. Sometimes they get it and sometimes they do not. It seems like a very backward process.
It seems like the government is trying to collect money from the wrong people. I think it has its priorities wrong. It needs to address its spending problem and quit trying to get money out of people in these categories.