Mr. Speaker, there is one thing I find odd, when I hear members of the opposition talk about the cuts of $1 billion to Canada's most vulnerable. The first question that springs to mind is that out of that $1 billion in cuts were $47 million we saved by reducing the size of cabinet. I am wondering if the member is considering members of the former Liberal cabinet to be among Canada's most vulnerable and we should have perhaps extended that. I think not.
In addition, I want to make just a couple of comments about the literacy funding itself. For the member's benefit, in all seriousness, I have been involved in my home province of Saskatchewan in literacy programs and campaigns for many years. In fact, I was the head of the Peter Gzowski fundraiser for literacy, a major fundraising campaign that Peter Gzowski established with no government assistance for three years.
Mr. Gzowski's commitment to the then Governor General of Canada was to raise over $2 million for literacy. He established this program across Canada. I ran it in Saskatchewan. We were very successful and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars without one nickel of government money. To suggest that all Conservative members are meanspirited and do not care about literacy is not only a falsehood but insults and offends me.
I will say this about the cuts about which my hon. colleague talked. A recent article in the Winnipeg Sun talked about the cuts to what I believe was called the Literacy Partners of Manitoba. This article indicated that the particular foundation in question did not deliver one nickel toward literacy programming. It was merely an advocacy program. The closest it came to delivering direct money for direct programs in literacy was a 1-800 number that was utilized on average less than once a day. When people phoned the 1-800 number, they were directed to a government department that directed money to programming for literacy.
It is important for Canadians to know that not one existing agreement in place, not one program has been cut. Most of the literacy programs are provincially directed. It is in the provincial jurisdiction. We are putting over $80 million into fundraising for the programs that will help Canadians directly learn how to read and write and that is a record of which to be proud.