Mr. Speaker, that is a bit much, saying not more debt when the government inherited a billion dollar surplus and turned it into a billion dollar deficit, on an annual basis. I take exception to that. The hon. member talked about jobs and he talked about plans, but then there is reality.
There was an interesting story in the Hill Times last week. A comparison was done. This is a reality check for the member. It is 93 months since the Conservative government has been in office. The number of Canadians with full-time jobs increased roughly 8.9%. That is 93 months. Compare that to the Paul Martin-Jean Chrétien governments, in the 93 months prior to 2006, full-time jobs increased by 17.1% overall. The reality speaks for itself.
My question related to the budget is this. Why do the Conservatives have to sneak so much other legislation into the budget legislation in order to get their legislative agenda passed? Why not give it the respect it is entitled to and introduce separate pieces of legislation on the very important issues that are being presented in this particular budget?