Mr. Speaker, we could look at the negative things which are the broken Liberal promises or we could, as Johnny Mercer would say, accentuate the positive, which is the whole issue of equalization payments and clawbacks.
I am feeling very good tonight in the language being used about giving people a chance to come up. That is really moving. It is good for Canada because there has been a fear that some of the hon. members of the opposition are negative about that approach. I think the idea of equalization and ending clawbacks that we are going to apply to Newfoundland we could perhaps apply to Canadians in general.
For example, in the province of Ontario a few years ago the Ontario Tories came up with the idea of clawing back money that was given by the federal government to the poorest children in the province. Many women have come to my office over the last year asking me to explain how a program designed to put food into the mouths of the poorest children of Ontario could be clawed back by the Conservatives. I had no answer for that. How could one steal food out of the mouths of babes?
I think about the example a few years ago of a woman in Ontario who was nine months pregnant and was left locked in a room to die because she was collecting welfare payments at the same time that she was getting student loans. That was a program that was not illegal under the New Democrats but the Conservative government decided it was an unfair equalization. She could have been allowed to pay back the money as some provinces are allowed to pay back over-equalization but the Conservatives did not allow her to pay it back. Instead they made an example of her.
We are setting a precedent tonight. I will tell Canadians that they should not be afraid of those hon. members, that those people have turned over a new leaf. It is a good sign for Canada. I would like to commend the hon. member of the opposition for his warm stand for Canadians. We are setting a wonderful precedent.