Mr. Chairman, the only brownie points to be gained here are by that member trying to get into the cabinet one day.
He wanted to know where we can save money: $211 million is being spent on a new Gothic building in the National Capital region; $100 million was spent on Challenger jets which DND said were not needed; and almost $1 billion on Bill C-68, the gun legislation, which was only supposed to cost $85 million.
The former Liberal minister of health, the hon. Monique Bégin, was in our caucus this morning and said that if the federal and provincial administrative aspects of the health care system were organized better, then 15% could be saved on costs. That means billions of dollars could be saved.
If the hon. member wants to know where the money could from without raising taxes, the government could do a much better job of managing the federal departments. It could then ensure that departments like the Coast Guard would get the funding they needed.
We are not here to score brownie points. We are here to convince that minister and this member that the argument is valid and true and that the men and women of the Coast Guard require more resources and better direction than they are getting now.
Could the member comment on that?