Mr. Speaker, what a privilege it is to be able to stand in my place and address the House of Commons in this wonderful Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings and talk about something that is really important to the constituents I represent.
The Prime Minister has made it very clear to parliamentarians of all political stripes, and he has emphasized this within our own caucus, that he wants members of Parliament to look at what is happening in their constituencies and to represent their constituents here in Ottawa, as opposed to what happened in the Stephen Harper era when there was more of a move toward representing Ottawa in their constituencies. It is important for us to recognize that.
Whether we are looking at the budget we presented yesterday or we are looking at the budget that was introduced just last year, we will see they reflect what Canadians truly want and believe is important.
The Liberal Party has made it very clear not only since we were elected but even prior to being elected to government that we want to ensure that Canada's middle class and those aspiring to be a part of the middle class are priority one. This government has made that possible, but we have not stopped there. There are so many other things we have done as a government. The constituents I represent, and in fact all Canadians in every region of our country, can be proud of the things we have done.
There are things that happen between budgets and I would like to provide comments on some of those things.
One of them is health care. Our Minister of Health has done an incredible job working with the provinces and territories. There are now 11 or 12 out of the group that have signed on to the new health care agreement. That means billions of dollars going from Ottawa to the provinces and territories. We are going to see more money being spent on palliative care, hospice care, mental health issues, so many issues that are critically important to the people we represent. This government made these things a priority and our Minister of Heath got the job done. I am very proud of that fact.
This is a government with a vision, a government that goes beyond health care and covers many other issues.
I want to talk specifically about the CPP, which is yet another agreement that was achieved by this Liberal government working with the provincial governments. We are talking about helping those individuals who are in the workforce now and will be retiring in the future. It is not only proper for us to talk about what is happening today but also to make plans into the future.
The environment is another important area. The price on pollution will have a positive impact on all political parties—