Mr. Speaker, in May 2003 the Prime Minister and the Liberal government chose to exclude 23,000 war widows from the veterans independence program, which provided funds to help with things like snow shovelling. The cost to include them would be, at a maximum, $5 million dollars a year, with this amount decreasing yearly as most of the widows are in their most vulnerable senior years.
The Liberal government is saying that these widows are not worth the money. The Liberal government is saying war widows are not a priority. The Liberal government lavished millions on non-repayable grants to Bombardier. The Liberal government blew millions on untendered contracts to Groupaction. The Liberal government approved a half million dollar tax write-off for George Radwanski. The Liberal government allowed millions in trust fund dollars to move tax free to the U.S.
It is time the Liberal government put its priorities in order. War widows are the real VIPs in this country, not Liberal hacks.