Thanks.
I want to acknowledge Jan Waterous, who's a constituent of mine. I want to thank you for standing up and being the “they”. The project you're putting forward is very ambitious, one that's going to make a big difference for residents and visitors alike, and for the environment as well.
Mr. Stratton, from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, I think a lot of the criticisms of this budget have been what it doesn't do and what it doesn't contain. Certainly, in looking at your website, you have some of those criticisms.
I want to quote very briefly from the website itself in regard to balanced budgets, “The government must present a concrete plan, with timelines, to return the federal books to balance.” Further on it stages, “When combined with provincial debt, Canada’s debt burden approaches 90% of the value [of] our economy, unsustainable levels over the long term.” There is a quote directly from you, “Playing fast and loose with government finances is a sure-fire way to get Canada into fiscal trouble in the future. Canadians are looking for leadership in fixing this problem sooner rather than later. The longer we wait to fix this problem, the worse it is going to get.”
I want to allow you an opportunity to speak to that and give us your take on, from your quote, why “playing fast and loose with government finances” is an issue Canadians should be concerned about. In doing so, what is the government putting at risk?