Mr. Speaker, the second petition, also signed by dozens of Manitobans, calls on the Canadian government to match funds personally donated by the citizens of Canada for the victims of the Chilean earthquake. Members are aware that on February 27 an 8.8 magnitude earthquake occurred in southern Chile. In fact, the Speaker will be in Chile, I believe next week, with a group of parliamentarians. I would hope they would be able to see some of the devastation there.
The Chilean Canadian community is mobilized. It has held fundraising events in Winnipeg and across the country over the last few months. In fact, I believe there is another one coming very shortly.
The question that everyone is asking is this. When will the Prime Minister give the same treatment to the Chilean earthquake victims as he did for the victims of the Haitian earthquake and match funds personally donated by Canadians to help the victims of the Chilean earthquake?