Mr. Speaker, in my colleague's heart and in his soul, is he slightly perturbed or concerned about the fact that his government has pushed our country to the brink of a deficit? Is he at all concerned that in this orgy of spending that has taken place over the past three budgets, the government has restricted and impeded its ability to work with the provinces to deal with urgent situations as they come up? I will give him one example.
Right now there is a crisis of overcrowding in our emergency rooms across the country. At the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, the fire marshal said that the overcrowding was absolutely outrageous and that it had to stop. This is not a one off deal. This is going on across the country. Our emergency rooms need an urgent infusion of cash.
Does my colleague agree with this evisceration of the spending powers of the federal government or does he approve of the diminishment of the federal government in our federation?