Mr. Speaker, I followed the comments made by my colleague from the NDP very closely.
He forgot to mention that full indexation of personal income taxes will cost the government $6.3 billion, which will go to the taxpayers. He never gave the government credit for that.
Headlines in the Globe and Mail read: “$13.3 billion in additional spending will go mainly toward health care, research and education”. The Winnipeg Free Press read: “It's payback time: Martin slashes $58 billion in taxes and puts an end to bracket creep”. Further, former NDP MP, Doug Fisher, said: “Finance Minister Paul Martin knows the nation's financial situation has been improved under his stewardship”.
The other point I want to bring to his attention is that he mentioned that last week the federal government gave Saskatchewan and Manitoba $240 million. Who is complaining? The premier of Saskatchewan was very happy. I do not know who speaks for Saskatchewan, the premier or the hon. member.