Instruction to Committee on Bill C-2  Mr. Speaker, I have trouble finding reasons to disagree with what the member just said, because I think we are saying much the same thing. There are a whole host of things that we could debate throughout the evening and never agree on at the end. However, in this particular case, I think this is an opportunity for the government to be held accountable.

Instruction to Committee on Bill C-2  Mr. Speaker, there is no question about that, and I think my hon. colleague for Durham has put it very well. There are a number of family-oriented tax incentives that the former Conservative government brought in that allowed families to, what I would call, pick and choose how they wanted to shape their life, how they wanted the tax system to best suit them, whether it was through the universal child benefit or, as my colleague mentioned, the fitness tax credit or the arts tax credit or income splitting.

Instruction to Committee on Bill C-2  Mr. Speaker, I am going to rise and make a few comments on this particular motion. I happen to serve on the finance committee with the hon. member who has proposed the motion, and one of the things I have learned in the short period of time I have had to work with the gentleman is that he is a very effective and convincing speaker.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I too have spoken to a number of the member's constituents who used to work in Alberta in the oil patch. Their hope was that the government would get out of the way and approve a pipeline. This budget does nothing for those unemployed people from the riding of Fredericton who used to fly out to Alberta every week and had a good quality of life.

The Budget  You bet I have some comments, Mr. Speaker. One of the reasons the economy in Alberta is struggling today is that member and his party continue to stand in the way of pipelines being constructed. Let us be honest about that. Will the member stand up in this House and say that his party will get out of the way and approve a pipeline or help approve a pipeline?

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to stand in the House today to convey a few of my thoughts about the federal budget, but more importantly to convey the feelings of the residents of Calgary Signal Hill. I am also delighted to be sharing my time today with the member of Parliament for Calgary Nose Hill.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, it is important, as part of this budget debate, to ensure that we do remind our friends across the way of the very generous surplus that we left the Liberal government after November 1. I wonder if the member could talk a little about the evidence that has been presented that would show that the Liberal government actually inherited a surplus and is now delivering a budget some three or four months later that has a $30 billion deficit.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I listened intently to the remarks of the member for Scarborough Centre and, as always, I listened very attentively to the question posed by the member for Winnipeg North to the previous speaker. I continue to hear about this middle-income tax cut. This morning we had finance officials at the finance committee, and we broke down the numbers.

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, one of the ironies of this whole debate is that we have proven on this side of the House that this so-called tax cut the member refers to ends up being a saving of $1 a day. However, the government is taking away the ability for Canadians to make some of their own choices around saving for the future.

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, I have a fair representation of those who are on retirement pension plans, as all members have. When I was door knocking, one of the things I found was that people who were retired and on a pension plan today were not that concerned about their own particular situation, but they were very concerned about their grandchildren.

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, I wish I could say it is my pleasure to stand today and speak to this piece of legislation. Unfortunately, it is not, but it is important to put some views on record. These are the views of my constituents that I talked to during the election campaign. As I went from door to door through various communities, the issue of the tax-free savings account was seen as a very creative way that as we move away in the future from defined benefit plans, the tax-free savings account was something that they could contribute to and rely on as they went through their retirement years.

Life Means Life Act  moved for leave to introduce Bill C-229, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts (life sentences). Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to introduce the bill today. The bill would ensure that judges and juries would have the option in sentencing to ensure that those who were convicted of heinous crimes would not walk the streets of our country again.

Ron Southern  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the passing of an Alberta and Canadian icon. In the late forties, Ron Southern, along with his father, invested some $2,000 and started the Alberta Trailer Company to house oilfield workers after the Leduc discovery of oil. That company, now known as ATCO, is now operating in five continents around the world, and employs over 8,000 people.

Finance  Mr. Speaker, we will see if the government can live up to this commitment. During the election campaign, the Prime Minister promised that we would have a slight budget deficit over the next couple of years to fund infrastructure, but then by the end of the mandate in 2019, the budget would be balanced.

Natural Resources  Turn it over, the right answer is on the other side.