Mr. Speaker, consistent with the issue of poverty, I want to point out that I have asked the Minister of Natural Resources to clarify why his party did an about face within a very short period of time. It accepted Bill C-66, which extended the EnerGuide program to help individuals, particularly those on low incomes and seniors, like my constituent Maggie Robertson who, over a month after the announcement was made, had been told she would not be eligible for the program as a result of a cut in the budget. It has still not been confirmed whether she has in fact received this.
I find it unacceptable that a government that campaigned on transparency and accountability would be so callous as to axe the EnerGuide program for low income households of $550 million as well as deep cuts to the EnerGuide house retrofit incentive program.
It is important for people to understand that this is not just a question of helping people make the updates that are good for them in terms of bringing their costs down as a result of energy costs that are spiralling out of control. It is also about putting these individuals in a position where they can actually contribute to reducing greenhouse gases and to try to find ways in which to help Canadians who have done so much to build this nation.
It seems to me that for the minister to somehow suggest that because of the audit process being some 50%, which it is not--it is 12%--that we should not have some kind of accountability to measure what is being invested, is, in my view, an abdication of the government's responsibility to taxpayers.
I am waiting for the Minister of Natural Resources to tell the House if he is prepared to live up to the commitment and tell Canadians why, in the first instance, he broke a promise and why he was not prepared to stand up for Canadians and, despite the unanimous consent of the hon. members in the Conservative Party, why the government felt it was important to cut this program.
I have more items I would like to introduce which go hand in hand with the 85¢ a litre and the cut in the GST but I will give the Minister of Natural Resources or his representative, the hon. parliamentary secretary, the opportunity to answer. I think they have some explaining to do and they have to explain that to the 150,000 Canadians who are basically left in the dark and left in the cold.