William Amos on Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2

Madam Speaker, it is a nice occasion to consider what the impact of cutting and cutting has done to the growth of the pie, as the hon. member for Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola has alluded to. In 2013, the previous administration, the Harper government, determined that it was a good idea to get rid of the rural secretariat, which was the one and only mechanism that was used to ensure that all departments across the federal government had a rural lens and were able to focus on the challenges of small rural towns and villages. I know that the member opposite represents such towns and communities and I wonder, in the context of this notion that he is bringing to us of growing the pie, how his constituents could have possibly been served by that killing of the rural secretariat.