Madam Chair, it is interesting when the member says we have no power to control what is actually in the courts. We had the power to limit it from 1986 to 1990 when we actually had the figures to know that it was the wrong decision at that time.
It actually scares me when my colleague suggests this because what he is really implying is that we could make a decision in this House and it would not mean anything. I believe that the decision should have been made not based on how much was left in the fund. The decision should have been made on what was the right thing to do for the victims of the day.
To say that we cannot access the funds is a shallow argument when one really looks at what the member is saying. That is like saying, “Oh, we have a little bit of gravy left over so we will apply it to try to ease our conscience”.
That is an inappropriate way to look at this. We had the figures back then. We need to do the right thing now. We needed to do it in the last government when there was a majority in government. The government had a majority in the House. It had total control of this. Nothing has changed from a year ago, as far as the fund goes. All that has changed is perhaps the pressure that has been applied to this issue at this present time.
Let us just make it happen now. Let us stop pointing figures and make it happen. We can get into a lot of the politics of it and I think the government of the day should wear some of the politics of it. That is fair enough. When one makes decisions, one has to live by those decisions and pay the price for them if they are the wrong decisions. I think that is fair. Let us move on this now. We have to do it and do it in an aggressive way.
I would like to challenge my colleague. Tomorrow he will have an opportunity to vote in this House and to put feet to his words if he really wants to compensate victims. So let us see that happen.