Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to be able to address the question of compassion. The greatest compassion we can give is that of hope for a better future. There will be no better demonstration of that than to give to the Canadian people a balanced budget with the hope of reduced taxes in the future. That is true compassion.
The other part of compassion is to give to those who cannot look after themselves the wherewithal to look after themselves. If we analyse the alternative budget presented this morning, we will see very clearly as one of the major principles in the social programs that those who cannot look after themselves will be the very first to receive the social program benefits. Those who must be looked after will be looked after. That is true compassion.
It is when we kick people who are down that we have no compassion. For people who can help themselves, we let them develop the strength and empower them so they can look after themselves. That is also compassion, to let them realize what they are capable of becoming. Then we look after those who cannot do that for themselves. That is true compassion and that is the human being behind the dollar.