Mr. Speaker, I listened to the comments from the parliamentary secretary and would certainly agree that economic opportunity needs to be there for all people, particularly people who have been disadvantaged by socio-economic status.
However, what drives me crazy is this lack of understanding or willingness to accept that before economic opportunity can exist people need to have basic necessities covered, whether it is shelter and housing, income security, food, or safety. If they do not have those, and if they think they will get kicked out at the end of the week or they do not have a roof over their heads, it is pretty hard to go to school or to take advantage of whatever economic opportunity there might be. If a person is living way below the poverty line, that economic opportunity does not exist.
I would like to ask the member if he acknowledges that. What does he mean by economic opportunity? Does he include in that the recognition of meeting these very basic human needs that in my community are being completely unmet by his government? We have not seen any housing dollars from the federal government coming into our community to build the housing that is desperately needed. Will he acknowledge that this needs to be addressed?