Mr. Speaker, first I want to clarify a comment that came from the member for Edmonton Centre. He attributed some of the financial success this country has had over the last 13 years to Brian Mulroney.
I remind the House that when Mr. Mulroney left office in 1993, we had a deficit of $43 billion, interest rates were close to 12%, unemployment was at 11.1% or 11.2%, and the debt to GDP ratio was 73%. Had he been in power another 35 minutes, I think the country would have been bankrupt.
However, that is not my question. My question for my colleague deals with some of the cuts that we have seen. The $5 million cut to the Status of Women was very unfortunate, although from a global perspective it was not that significant, but perhaps what is more troubling is the directive that the government would no longer finance any group that advocated for the equality of women in Canada.
Does my colleague have any reason as to why this directive was issued? What effect will it have on those groups across Canada that do successfully advocate for the equality of women in this country?