Mr. Speaker, I thank my New Democratic Party colleague for his speech.
When I entered politics, a journalist asked me a question. It was during one of the first interviews I gave after deciding to run. The journalist asked me a simple question: once elected, if I could do one thing to counter people's cynicism, what would it be? I said that I would do something meaningful to prove that we could do things differently.
Even if we set aside the expenses to set up the minister's office, when I see that $850,000 was spent ahead of the multitude of projects that are waiting in every municipality and region in Canada, I really have to wonder.
I would like my colleague to make his opinion on that $850,000 expense clear. Given the choice, not a lot of private companies would spend that much money setting up offices. Even if people tell me that public servants made that decision, I think a minister who wants to show leadership and do things properly from day one should take a close look at that kind of thing and keep an eye on his own department's spending.