Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Mississauga South knows very well how the committee operates. He knows very well that it is controlled by the Liberal majority.
So it is not that the opposition members did not try, but rather that the Liberal majority refused to follow up on the discussions.
All we were asking the minister to do was to provide us with the assurance that funds were available and that he would do everything in his power to see that the bill included those widowers and widows excluded by the bill as he had introduced it.
We never got an answer. The hon. member for Mississauga South is absolutely right. It might have been good for the minister to give us an answer today. It is not that the opposition members have not tried to get one.
I would advise him, since he is a Liberal MP, to go to see the Minister of Veterans Affairs and ask the question, to ensure that he gets an answer and that the minister will issue a public statetement of his intention to immediately support a Senate motion to ensure inclusion of the widows and widowers who,unfortunately, have been excluded by his very own bill.