My question is for the Minister of Finance, and it’s an attempt to once again bring clarity to an issue that keeps bubbling away out there. I was astounded to hear this morning on CBC radio — I believe it was Mr. Lee Selleck talking about hearing Mr. Abernethy, who said that there would be a reinvestment of $70 million along with cuts of $135 million. Mr. Selleck wondered if it was actually a leak of information. I was equally astounded the other day to talk to the author of a Parkland Institute report, an excellent researcher and so on, who knew nothing about it.
We’ve raised the issue of communications before, but this is such a fundamental issue. It’s still clouding the public understanding and ability to bring analysis to the government’s moves. Just for the public record and for absolute clarity, was the
original intent of this government to find $135 million in cuts and during a similar period to reinvest about $75 million in areas of priority, for a net reduction of $60 million roughly over two years?