Mr. Speaker, I appreciate his pride in our accomplishments but just look at the formula. In the economic update in the fall there was $2.2 billion for student financial assistance, $550 million for the Canada access grants, $3.5 billion for workplace based training, $1 billion for infrastructure, $265 million to bring people with disabilities into the workforce, $1.3 billion for settlement and immigration, and we offered a fifty-fifty plan in the election campaign.
The current government offers a tiny tax benefit on scholarships and books. It is $80. In Nova Scotia, tuition is $6,000 to $8,000 a year and students will get $80. That does absolutely nothing for the Canadians who need help the most. Tinkering with the tax system is not how education is improved. We must invest directly in it. This is an abandonment of Canadian students.