Mr. Speaker, it is ironic how everybody's argument and debate is suddenly focused on this one bill. Everybody wants to throw in everything but the kitchen sink. I would pick up on one point that the hon. member has made. The bill is not about an illusion. It is based on reality. It is based on real financial expenditures and on the real financial picture.
The member asks how we will know if the surplus will be there? Maybe he has not been reading what has happened over the last year. If he will remember, the Liberal government predicted there would be a $1.9 billion surplus. Then it turned out to be $9.1 billion. Now it is actually $9.8 billion. That was for the previous fiscal year. The hon. member suggested that surplus will not exist. He should believe me, it will be there in the billions. He should read any financial forecast.
That is why the bill is based on financial prudence, as reported by the Comptroller General, because that surplus does have to exist. I agree with that. I will agree with the member that it has to be above $2 billion. He is questioning whether or not it will be there. I tell him to read any financial forecast and he will see that the surplus will be there and that expenditure will be there.