Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Trois-Rivières for his excellent speech. I will gladly follow him in a few minutes, but I have a question for him first.
He was just talking about the Canadian government aid that will go to the WHO's road map. The WHO needed roughly $600 million and appealed to all its global partners for support. The United States gave $100 million, the United Kingdom gave $40 million, and Canada gave $5 million. According to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health's lastest version, Canada may have possibly given slightly more than $5 million.
In any case, $5 million is a paltry sum in a $100-million budget, especially considering that Canada apparently weathered the recession best, according to the Conservative government.
If this government is in the best position economically, then why is it giving barely $5 million to a cause that needs $600 million worldwide in order to eradicate the problem?
Personally, I think this is no time to be burying our heads in the sand. If we do not manage to deal with this problem quickly, this could go beyond the five countries mentioned.