Mr. Chairman, first, as always, it's a pleasure for me to welcome Mr. Page. It is a commonplace to say “your humble servant”, but not only is Mr. Page an extraordinary servant of this House, he also always presents matters in a disarmingly simple manner, and that is of enormous help to us in navigating this maze of economic difficulties.
I want to say how happy I was a little earlier to hear my colleague Mr. McCallum clarify—I'm going to be charitable—the successive remarks of his colleagues and say that they were not always very clear with respect to the Liberal Party's intentions concerning Mr. Page's office. So I'm delighted to know their new intentions. I find it a little more difficult to decode the government's message because Mr. McCallum said that he was not sure that the three opposition parties together could impose the necessary $2.7 million so the office can continue to operate. But I am certain of one thing: the four parties together can. So it remains to be determined whether our feeling that what was supposed to be the parliamentary librarian's spontaneous reaction, to try to strangle the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, was in fact something that was done with a smile and the active or passive participation of the government party. Whatever the case may be, that doesn't prevent them from supporting us in our request.
Mr. Chairman, I'm going to explain to you why the situation is so difficult for everyone. Technically, there is undoubtedly no mistake, but today our agenda states that our first witness is the Library of Parliament. Formally, that is correct, in accordance with the structures of the Parliament of Canada: the first witness is the Library of Parliament, and it states the names of the persons here present today.
Next to you are two extraordinary associates, who are always there for you and for whom I have nothing but praise. But they are also employees of the Library of Parliament. So let's consider the absurdity of the situation. I have in my hand information prepared for the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance by the Parliamentary Information and Research Service. What do we find in it? We find a series of suggested questions; these are the terms they use. So the Library of Parliament, through its employees, all equally competent, suggest to parliamentary committee members questions to ask their colleagues. I emphasize that they are colleagues, that they have the same employer. Clearly something is not right here.
I refer to the remarks by Mr. Wallace and Mr. Menzies, who recalled, a little earlier and very rightly so, that it is the Conservatives who have not only the responsibility, but also the merit of having created the position of parliamentary budget officer. Today we heard in the House of Commons that, when the Prime Minister was leader of the opposition, he said that obeying the will of Parliament was a moral issue. He was reminded of that because, two weeks ago, Parliament adopted a number of requests concerning employment insurance with respect to which the Prime Minister—that same individual who was leader of the opposition at the time—refuses to obey the will of Parliament. So the question is whether it is a matter of successive or actual morality. In the coming weeks, time will tell. I want to recall that the Library's Standing Joint Committee will be meeting tomorrow. That's a happy coincidence. We'll be there. I hope the official opposition will act on the good intentions announced a little earlier by our friend Mr. McCallum.
I wanted to ask Mr. Page a technical question. I wanted to know whether the new figures on the deficit, the forecasts that have just been received, and that are indeed quite alarming, include increased employment insurance costs. That isn't clear in my mind, but my impression is that they are not.