Mr. Speaker, the Liberals just cannot resist turning regional development programs into vote buying schemes. In eastern Ontario the pattern is: first, they ignore the region where Liberal seats are safe; second, they announce millions in funding the day prior to an election when the seats are in danger; and third, they drag their heels on this money when the seats are lost.
Now they think the problem is that the region's community futures development corporations are lousy tools for vote buying. The Liberal answer is to replace CFDCs with an ACOA style program, subject to direct ministerial manipulation.
Why will the minister not simply commit that any new funds for Ontario be invested via the CFDCs?