Mr. Brison, I guess my reaction is that you just made the case for why the federal government should have a three- to five-year plan to get back to balanced budgets. There is only one taxpayer, and some provinces are in far worse shape than the federal government.
I'm worried about Ontario's structural deficit. For example, my fear is that Ontario's going to get stuck with a structural deficit of at least $10 billion and maybe more. We saw a very tough budget put in place in Quebec this spring because the Quebec government was well aware of the demographics working against it and the fact that it had to get back to a balanced budget by about 2014.
Notwithstanding Mr. Tal's comments, I do think the federal budget did the right thing in terms of the structure--having a five-year plan to get back to balance--because ultimately there is only one taxpayer.
I don't think there's that ongoing need, for example, for federal stimulus in any form. I think we can allow monetary policy to do the job. If there's any slack required on our economy, it can be achieved through monetary policy.
I actually agree with you entirely that we have to be very conscious of the indebtedness--personally, provincially, and federally--and ensure we have a plan to get back to reducing that debt burden over time.