Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, the hon. member for Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, for his excellent question.
He just put his finger on the problem. We know what has been happening on the softwood lumber issue over the past two or three years. All that money could have helped our workers. The region I represent is among the hardest hit by the crisis in the softwood lumber industry. There are currently 3,000 workers receiving EI benefits. Sometimes, when they are no longer eligible for EI benefits, they go on welfare and then stop showing up in the statistics.
There is also mad cow disease. No cases of the disease were found in Quebec, but still our producers have been unable to export their products for months now. We could also talk about health care or the underprivileged.
Last night, the House voted. Members of Parliament wanted a discretionary envelope to be able to provide assistance to organizations that need help. The government said no. They could hand this $2 billion to members of Parliament who could, in turn, distribute it among the poor in their regions. I could give the House thousands of examples. What we have here is a heartless government that would rather help the rich than the poor. They keep on taxing us, but where does the money go? To their friends, that is where.
That is why it is important for the Bloc Quebecois to use this allotted day to raise this issue and tell Canada about what the government is doing for the rich but not doing for the poor.