Mr. Speaker, there is no question, and the member knows this, that the members of the New Democratic Party in the past have called for public investment in cancer prevention and treatment strategies. We certainly appreciate the steps that the government has taken in that direction.
The New Democratic Party has also called for a significant investment in the virology lab in Winnipeg to ensure that it can continue to be an internationally recognized centre for responsiveness in the case of an emergency or a pandemic. However, what the member is missing is the epidemic, the serious critical crises that exist right now on the streets of Winnipeg, and the government is either totally blind or negligent.
I do not know, after I have just talked about poverty in our midst, how the member can ignore that fact. The member cannot even respond to the fact that 52% of aboriginal families indicate they live in crowded conditions in Winnipeg. There are people living in temporary hotels, hostels, and on the streets. People cannot get a decent meal. The member wants to ignore that situation.
I suggest to him that if the government is serious, and he is serious about addressing pandemics, it should start with one's own backyard and look at the problems staring us in the face right now. Kids are going to school hungry, people are living in the most despicable housing conditions imaginable, and people are having to resort to the most untenable ways of making money to subsist. That would be a truly responsible and responsive government in the event of a pandemic.