Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think -- the simple thing is -- the solution we require is more money. I am not talking about keeping people on Social Assistance. What I am talking about is training people to get off Social Assistance. I am talking about keeping people healthy. I am talking about allowing seniors to live in dignity and independently.

The Education, Culture and Employment and Health and Social Services Departments -- if they wanted to do that they would require more money. We have all heard that the easy cuts have been made this year. We all know how hard that was. We have heard the harder cuts are coming this year. They will cause excruciating pain, as Mr. Todd told us. We have read that there is going to be a 25 percent reduction in adult education. We have heard that we have the worst rates of alcoholism yet we might have to close rehabilitation centres. We have heard-we know- we have the worst high school graduation rates in Canada and close to the highest student-teacher ratio to go with that. Do the two co-relate? And yet we have been cutting in Education. We also heard that we might have to close a hospital or two.

The simple fact is that we all agreed, the majority of Caucus agreed, that the Social Envelope percentage of the overall budget had to stay the same as the previous year. And some people advocated balancing the budget in one year. Now some of those very same people are saying you cannot cut seniors, you cannot cut foster children, you cannot cut organizations. Well you cannot have it both ways.

Where do you want the Social Envelope to cut? Where, if you are keeping it at the same percentage-they have to make cuts because of forced growth. So, if you do not want more cuts, harder cuts, this year, the people sitting on this side of the table who are saying not to make these cuts have to agree that the Social Envelope percentage of the overall budget has to, at least, remain the same or increase. And, we also have to indicate where the cuts are going to have to come from. Because we have to cut in the area of $100,000,000 and I certainly agree elders have worked a long time. I am going to be an elder one day and I would like to have some programs available too. But they have to be fair.

I do not like to cut from seniors. I do not want to see it done. I would like to see the programs in place but I am also on the Social Committee and we need some direction, where is the extra money going to come from? Where are the other cuts going to take place?

Thank you.