Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the minister and to all her colleagues for being with us this morning.
Last week, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty made a trip to the United States. He gave a speech in New York in which he explicitly endorsed the views of Paul Ryan, who's the Republican chair of the budget committee of the House of Representatives. Mr. Ryan has called for the total repeal of President Obama's health care initiative, and also for a 33% cut in medicare in the U.S.
One can question the propriety of a Canadian finance minister getting engaged in a U.S. budget debate, but that's not my question. If the finance minister is telling the U.S. to balance the books by slashing health care, doesn't that logically imply he would pursue a similar policy in this country?