I apologize, Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister of Finance and the President of the Treasury Board.
Second, and a very comforting testimony for me, is an article in the Times and Transcript by Campbell Morrison where he observes that the, “Federal government won't play in provinces' pen. The decision of what to cut largely reflects a government that is retrenching into the strictly federal role as delineated by the original separation of powers that the Fathers of Confederation drew up in 1867”.
I have made it halfway through a book by Patrick Boyer entitled Just Trust Us: The Erosion of Accountability in Canada where he states that successive governments have clouded the lines between federal and provincial responsibility. He adds that with respect to program spending, lack of responsibility and accountability has led to billions of dollars of money being spent without any measure as to whether it had been successful.
That stops now and it stops with the government. In short, there was a need for this action. We are creating value for Canadians and there is wisdom in what has been done.