Mr. Speaker, I have no doubt that my hon. colleague feels very passionately about the needs of Canadians but the simple fact is that not all Canadians have kept up with the overall success of the Canadian economy in the past 10 years.
We heard earlier that there are unemployed people in Canada. I think my colleague from Brant had mentioned that one person unemployed is too many. The fact is that we had an unemployment rate of I believe almost 12% just 10 years ago. A number of people had to make sacrifices as this country went from being virtually bankrupt to the point now where we are able to make investments in the most important resource we have, which is our people, particularly our children.
I would say that even in a time of significant economic distress, things like the Canada child tax credit was an innovation at a time when we were trying to, overall, get the economy under control. We have not slacked off in that need, even when the country did not have money.
Government is about making choices. We made it clear in the election and in the Speech from Throne that our priorities were health, homelessness, child care, reinvesting in our communities and reinvesting in our military. Homelessness is one that is very close to me and I am delighted that we have set aside $1.8 billion for that over the next few years.
I think we are doing pretty well, all things considered. We can always do better and we will strive to do so.