Mr. Speaker, for the first time in months Canadians are going about their business today with confidence that Parliament, their Parliament, is once again working constructively on their behalf.
The reason? The passage of the NDP budget bill last evening, with its new funding for people and the environment. It has funding for affordable housing for families, lower tuition for students, training to help build skills and get jobs, a better environment through public transit, and global poverty relief.
Canadians have been waiting for this day for a long time. This marks the first federal NDP budget in the history of Canadian politics, going back to the founding of our party, the CCF, in the dark days of the Depression in 1933. That moment marked new hope for Canadians then, and today marks new hope for Canadians who are counting on us to expedite the budget bills and make this better balanced budget a reality as soon as possible.