Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to this motion presented by the hon. member for Kitchener Centre. I had a chance to read it aloud earlier, during a question I asked the hon. member. It is a timely motion to allow the House of Commons, through its Standing Committee on Human Resources, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities, to study the level of financial support provided to persons with disabilities.
This is timely because over the past few years, the Canadian government has failed in a number of its responsibilities toward the least fortunate and the most underprivileged in society, those who cannot easily earn a living or stand up for themselves.
Let us not forget the Canadian government 's withdrawal from social housing, for example, or from employment insurance or the fate of seniors. When we talk about these major issues, they affect many persons with disabilities.
However, what is a bit odd today is that a member of the Liberal Party is presenting this motion. I am glad about this and so is my party. However, we cannot ignore the Liberal Party's despicable record when it comes to the least fortunate in our society.
Let us look at what the new government has done, as it calls itself. Just because it is new does not mean it is better. Let us be clear. It talks about being new and therefore better, but that is not the case. Recently, on September 26, 2006, one day after announcing a $13 billion surplus, it cut $1 billion in support from all kinds of agencies that help our least fortunate. This applied to literacy and employment retraining as well. These are major files that the Conservatives interfered in and made cuts to.
Mr. Speaker, I am counting on you to tell me when I have two minutes remaining because I would like to propose an amendment to the motion before ending my presentation.