Mr. Speaker, it is really interesting to hear the member talk about the resources that are going to be given to the middle class. When I see what people are going through at this time, the minimum wage is really a dead loss. It rose only one cent between 1975 and 2013. That is today’s reality. Household indebtedness in general has reached 163% of what it was. That is unbelievable. When they talk about income splitting, which will affect only a tiny segment of the population, how can they say, given what they are presenting and what we have experienced in recent years, that they are helping the middle class and the most needy?
As I was saying, community groups in my riding are seeing their programs cut more and more because of a shortfall at the federal level. True, there are the provinces as well, but the fact remains that the federal government has a big part to play. However, it is not assuming its role as a leader in the community.