Thank you. While not a point of order, that's very much appreciated from Mr. Beech.
I will just very briefly put a couple of remarks on the order and then hand it over to my Liberal colleagues, as long as they are brief, because we have only 24 minutes or so left and, as I said, this is an impending crisis, a ticking time bomb with respect to the mortgage market, as an article I'm looking at right now says. It's sad that we have to put up with these childish games.
If there is anyone who needs to be removed from their post, it's the Minister of Finance. She has disregarded multiple invitations from this finance committee. Her sole job is to manage the finances and to report back to the Canadian people. We are the Canadian people's tool for her to express herself. It's not the media. It's Parliament. That's why the Magna Carta was drafted 800-plus years ago. That is why Parliament exists.
However, she has flagrantly disregarded the invitations from this finance committee. If anyone needs to be replaced desperately, it's the Minister of Finance. She has presided over the worst economy since the Great Depression, and all the Canadian people were asking for was for her to come and testify for two hours, but it was too much for her to climb down from her ivory white tower and talk to the Canadian people, the common people.
Instead, while we have an economy in which, in the chair's riding, one in 20 is using the food bank, we have an obstructionist Minister of Finance who will not appear in front of this committee, but who finally did to get her legislation brought forward and then only showed up for an hour and a half even though she was invited for two hours.
Conservatives worked hard to have professional decorum and to improve the legislation, but we are not going to be bystanders as the worst economy since the Great Depression is presided over by this Liberal failure economy. Do you know what? It might be shocking to the other parties, but the Conservatives work as a team. We know right now that Liberals are probably vying for their cabinet positions. Perhaps they don't work as a team and some are happy in the backbenches, but as they have pushed and shoved along for the inevitable cabinet shuffle, we have seen this absolute failure in government. We saw in a recent poll that 80% of Canadians want a new government. Eighty per cent is a huge number, especially considering something like 30% of Canadians consider themselves Liberals. Nearly a majority of Liberal supporters want a new government.
I see Mr. Blaikie posing with this Liberal government for pictures and during photo ops. Perhaps he too wants to ingratiate himself with the new government, so it's no wonder these childish games are happening. When the economy is falling apart and when their party is falling apart, perhaps they are lashing out like small children. It's very disappointing. We have a crisis coming, and you know what? Way to destroy and poison the well. You couldn't have done it any better, guys. Congratulations there.
Do you know what? The reason we don't support this budget has nothing to do with Pierre Poilievre. It has nothing to do with him. It has to do with the Canadian people. We have the worst economy since the Great Depression, guys. We have a mortgage time bomb. We have officials here who want to talk, but instead we have to play childish political games. It's pathetic. It's sad. It's disappointing, and it is just an absolute embarrassment for this finance committee. I am embarrassed to be a part of this committee. If anyone should be removed, it's the chair here, the chair who has presided over complete dysfunction. It couldn't get any worse.
Daniel, if you want to remove someone, remove Peter. Remove the Minister of Finance, who won't come for two hours despite multiple invitations here.
With that, I'll let you guys have your piece.