Madam Speaker, my colleague's response is very noteworthy. The government has introduced a bill in which it has decided to help the people that its administrative system allows it to help. It is giving money to seniors who truly need it, meaning those receiving the guaranteed income supplement, and to parents. However, in the absence of an appropriate administrative mechanism, everyone living alone is being left high and dry.
For example, a young woman in my riding told me about this on the weekend. She earns minimum wage, so about $9 an hour. She has to drive over 10 kilometres to work. Because she lives by herself, she will not be able to get any money under the federal program.
Can my colleague confirm that this is the reality? Is he prepared to expand the scope of the bill so that these people can also receive assistance? We are not just talking about two or three people, but rather about all the people who work hard for their money and who need it to make ends meet.
The government is hiding behind a bureaucratic answer, saying that it allocated assistance the way it could. Could it not have shown enough initiative, instead, to find a solution for low-income earners who work but who, because they have no children or are not over the age of 65, are paying the full cost of the rise in gas prices? Is the government's failure to find a solution to this problem not irresponsible?