Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague opposite on his maiden speech. I have just a couple of questions.
He mentioned the funding for taking care of our seniors while we cannot be there for them. He mentioned his private conversations with the minister on this type of funding. I am wondering whether or not they discussed how they would allocate funds to nursing homes, for example, that have beds open but no funding going toward ensuring that a senior can actually occupy the bed.
The other issue was the hon. member's contentment over the new deal for cities and the funding going to the urban centres. We know that money is being generated in part by the excise taxes charged on gasoline.
I am wondering if he could explain to me how he would justify to our rural constituents how the money can be taken from them when they are forced to use private vehicles and pay the excise taxes. There is no public transit in the rural areas. Could he explain how the government can take the money they are paying on top of the price of gasoline and funnel it toward the cities?