Mr. Speaker, because I believe I am the last speaker, I want to sum up by saying that I have been listening to the debate today and what an incredible farce it has been in regard to the motion brought forward by the Liberal caucus.
What a history this motion has. Let us look at the record. Let us look at the record of the 150,000 day care spaces that were promised in 13 Liberal budgets but were never delivered. And the Liberals have the gall to bring forward this motion?
Let us look at the $25 billion in lost transfer payments because of Liberal governments and let us look at the status of women in this country today.
Then, a few days ago, we saw the so-called mini-budget brought in by the Conservatives, with the biggest giveaway to corporate Canada and with huge rollbacks in corporate taxes. Who sits on their hands and supports the Conservative government? That same Liberal Party.
I have to say that it is pathetic what the Liberals did today and the record will show what they have really done for the women in this country, just as we are now seeing from the Conservative government as well.
In my community of east Vancouver, we recently had a visit from the special UN rapporteur on affordable housing who came to east Vancouver to see that homelessness has doubled in my community. He issued a damning preliminary report, not only of the previous Liberal government but of the current Conservative government, a report that asks why, in a country as wealthy as Canada, we have people who are homeless. Why do we have 1.5 million Canadians who are in need, according to CMHC, of core housing? Why do we have 2.5 million Canadians living below the poverty line? It is because of the Liberal budgets and it is because of the budget brought down just a few days ago that gave this massive rollover to the corporations.
I have to ask what kind of scale it is that is being used here to provide any sense of equity. It is a scale that says if people already have a lot, we will give them more, and if people do not have anything, sorry, we will forget about them. But those are my constituents and those are average Canadians who have been forgotten.
We are here to stand up in the House and to call for the truth on what that motion from the Liberal Party is about, but also to expose what the government's mini-budget is all about. It is about reaping rewards for the wealthiest corporations in this country. They are profitable, the oil companies, the gas companies and the mining companies, and they do not need handouts from the government.
Maybe the manufacturing sector needs some support. We have heard about the 300,000 jobs that have been lost in the manufacturing sector. We have heard about the workers who have been laid off.
However, I will tell members what we are really losing out on and that is the social deficit that has been built up. It is really shameful that we now have come to the realization that the UN rapporteur has to issue a report pointing out to us, as members of Parliament, to the government and to previous governments that we have a significant issue of poverty. We have a growing gap in this country. Even Statistics Canada shows us that the wealthiest people are getting wealthier while other people are being left behind.
Yes, we do need an economic strategy that puts women first, we do need pay equity and we do need child care, but neither of those parties has had the guts, the political priority or the vision to deliver on that. They both have failed the people of Canada miserably on that score.
We are here today as New Democrats to stand up and be counted. We voted against that so-called mini-budget because we know it is the wrong direction for Canada and we know it is the wrong direction for the vast majority of Canadians.
People want to see a social investment. Women in this country want to see a social investment in education for their kids. They want to see the social investment in child care. They want to see a social investment so they can afford their prescriptions and do not have to take money out of their housekeeping money or food off the table or worry about paying the rent. Those are the basics that I hear about from my constituents. I know that other members in our caucus hear it from their constituents too.
I want to say to the Liberal members who have been debating their motion today, really, what gall, and what a shame it is for them to stand up in this place and peddle this line that they now want to see equality for women after 13 years of downgrading women.
That was not an economic statement that was about an update. It was an economic statement that left more and more people living in misery in this country and those members are going along with it. We know which side we are on, but obviously Liberal members do not know which side they are on, so we say shame on those members.