Mr. Speaker, there is no one so dull who will not learn. The hon. member has given a classic demonstration of he who will not listen will not learn.
I will compliment the government on one thing: it did untie the aid. That is a good idea. It was long overdue and well done.
With respect to the foreign aid budget, however, the Martin government and the Chrétien government set in process a means by which we would get to 0.7% over time. It was an 8% increase. It was a locked in increase. It came at the point where we finally dug ourselves out from the mess of the previous administration under Mr. Mulroney.
A path was actually set in place. A commitment was made to the poor of this world and that the budget was going to be increased on an annualized basis for 8%. We had that running for three, four or five years. Here the Conservatives cut it and flatlined it for the next five years after saying what pretty fine fellows they are. There are levels of hypocrisy, and I do not know if the Conservatives have achieved the highest level of hypocrisy, but they are well on their way. They are certainly very capable in that area.
Again, I reiterate my statement that this is an economic action plan on the backs of the poor of this world.