Madam Speaker, unlike many others in the House, I will endeavour to be polite and show respect, which can take various forms.
This is outrageous. We are talking about a report that was prepared in committee in a serious way and submitted to the department. We expected to wait three months for something to happen, knowing how big the government is. However, a year and a half seems a long time. It is a bit like the thingamajig on the other side of the Hill, the Senate. It does not move at all. At some point, items have to be put back on the agenda.
Today, we are not being thanked for putting the topic back on the agenda, because it is important, after all, and because we are right that it is a federal responsibility that was sloughed off in 1997, not to mention that people need help. Instead, we are being told that it is our fault and that all we had to do was put it back on the agenda sooner. Come on. Give me a break.
Can we focus on the content? This is a serious report, prepared with tremendous diligence and based on scientific evidence. There are people living ankle-deep in water. The government needs to stop telling us to relax, though I think it is too late now. What we need now is action.