Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thanks to the Minister of Finance and his officials for being here today.
First of all, through the chair, Minister, I want to congratulate you on presenting a balanced budget.
As the minister said, this was a promise made and a promise kept. This makes us one of the few western countries to have a balanced budget, and what's even more remarkable is that this was done without raising taxes. Most countries, when they want to balance their books, have to raise taxes, but in this case it was quite the contrary. In fact taxes in Canada are at a 50-year low. So I want to congratulate the minister on balancing the books as well as keeping taxes at a 50-year low.
Now, can the minister tell us the key reasons for balancing the budget and why it's important for our future?