Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to the hon. member's speech and I have a number of questions.
I think he has forgotten some of the previous government's record on things like post-secondary education. As we know, one of the best things people can do to lift themselves from poverty is to invest in education. We know tuition fees doubled and even, in some cases, tripled under the federal Liberal government's rule.
I would like to point out a number of things that budget 2006 and 2007 did which the hon. member did not acknowledge. First, we believe that the best social program to help people out of poverty is a job and we are certainly seeing the lowest unemployment rates since December 1974.
We have removed 885,000 low income Canadians from the tax rolls and reduced the GST for the one-third of Canadians who pay no tax at all. We brought in a working income tax benefit, a working families tax plan, a registered disability savings plan and the list goes on and on. This government has worked very hard for low income Canadians.
What the hon. member did not talk about is how the former government presided over the largest widening of the gap between rich and poor and it did absolutely nothing to stand up for them. This finance minister has stood up for them and it is a privilege for me to stand behind him on that.