Mr. Speaker, I listened to the member's comments with interest.
We are in tough economic times. The finance minister and this government took pre-emptive strikes over a year ago to stimulate the economy, and the rest of the world is trying to catch up.
With regard to political subsidies, I wonder if the member is aware that just yesterday the NDP premier of Manitoba was planning to bring in a share per voter of $1.25, similar to what exists federally, but upon reflection decided not to do so because he realized that it would not be a good use of taxpayers' money in these tough economic times. In fact, in Manitoba union and corporate donations are not allowed either.
If Manitoba has gone without taxpayer-subsidized votes for about 10 years now, why can we not do that on the federal scene as well?