Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's question allows me to elaborate a little bit on our balanced approach when it comes to HIV-AIDS. Indeed, I can assure the House and the hon. member that this government has increased funding for services for HIV programs over the two years plus of our mandate thus far.
It would be safe to say that the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation initiative is one where we have various pots of funding, some of it from our current funding, but also some that is new dollars that were not allocated by previous governments on this file. So it is a combination effort.
I believe in my heart of hearts perhaps that we need a balanced approach. We need to ensure that services are increased for those who are suffering from HIV-AIDS in our country, but we also need to invest in the best way to deal with this tragedy long term, which is to develop, test and implement a vaccine. So this puts Canada at the forefront.
We have been touted around the world as a leader in the vaccine initiative. We are used as an example. When Bill and Melinda Gates go to Australia, when they go to Denmark, when they go to France and Japan, they say please follow Canada's lead because it is investing in the right way to deal with this terrible pandemic ultimately, which is to protect Canadians and citizens worldwide from the disease.