Mr. Speaker, Paul Gérin-Lajoie's manifesto denounces increased military spending at a time when people are still threatened by famine, disease and extreme poverty. Between 2006 and 2009, the Liberals and Conservatives will have increased the defence budget by $6.1 billion. The budget for official development assistance, on the other hand, will go up by only $1 billion during that period.
In light of this imbalance, are we to understand that the government has decided to solve the world's problems with weapons rather than development assistance?