Yes, he left a $5 billion deficit.
There are governments and premiers acting in official capacities who will in fact do that, so we are asking the government to put some mechanism in place to stop that from happening. We are asking the government to put some regulation in place which will guarantee that the provinces cannot do this. We are afraid that otherwise those who need it most, those who are most at risk, those who are most marginalized in our communities, will not get it, particularly this winter.
The other piece of this legislation that is troubling is the fact it is targeted so narrowly to those who collect GIS and those who collect the child tax benefit supplement. There are literally millions of others who are low income working people, some without children, who will go cold this winter because they will not get any of this money. There are people across this province, low income themselves, some of them in small businesses, like farmers and truckers, who also will not benefit from this.
There is no money in the bill to compensate people in industry, particularly in northern and rural Canada where resources are limited to begin with. There is nothing in the bill to respond to their needs.
I launched a petition and campaigned with the truckers over the labour day weekend, the same truckers who I stood with on the highway in Sault Ste. Marie, slowing down traffic to send a message to the government to get tough with the industry.
I have spoken to farmers who are worried. They already have been hammered by the BSE crisis. Three or four generations of equity have been eaten up. Now they will have to come up with more money to put a crop in the field next spring. They are not sure where they will get that money because of fuel and seed prices. Also, fertilizer has oil components in it. It is problematic and troubling.
That is why those truckers and farmers came to the town hall meeting I held. They wanted to give me and the leader of our party, the member for Toronto--Danforth, a message to bring back to the House of Commons. They wanted us to speak confidently and forcefully on their behalf to get the government to do something.
There is nothing in the bill for them. There is nothing in the bill for the hard-working men, women and families across the country who do not now qualify for either the child tax benefit supplement or the GIS. The National Anti-Poverty Organization met with me a couple of weeks ago, before the bill was introduced. It said that if the government flowed the money through the GST rebate, it would help more people. I know the government will say that the last time it did that, people who did not qualify for it, such as students or those who had died, received it. Then it should fix that. Do not throw out the baby with the bathwater. If there is a problem with a vehicle, fix it.
Let us get tough with the industry. If we are going to put something in place, make sure it meets the needs of the most people possible.