Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to welcome Ms. Sterling, Ms. Mihychuk and especially Mr. Duclos, whose riding is next to mine. Mr. Duclos is the member for the riding of Quebec. This is the first time we have the pleasure of meeting, and even if we have some real disagreements as to our vision, I wanted to commend him.
I want to pay my respects to Mr. Duclos because this guy is a good fellow. He has a great resumé, great experience, and is a good scholar, and so I want to pay all my respects to him. When someone of his stature wants to run for election, it's the entire political class who wins. I want to welcome you to the House of Commons even if we entered the House at exactly the same time.
The first time we met was on Canada Day, which was a good sign, but it was the rainiest day that summer in Quebec. So we were far away from the so-called sunny ways and sunny days. Speaking of that, I want to talk about the following issue especially.
Our opinions differ on the sound management of public funds. We agree with the minister that funds must be given to families. We did this with the Universal Child Care Benefit, the UCCB. Our figures were different, as well as our approach, but we also wanted to provide direct financial aid to families. We feel it is the appropriate way to proceed, and that parents know what is good for their children. We share the same vision.
However, we have a major difference of opinion on how to manage public funds. We did so without creating a deficit, whereas the current government is creating a $30-billion one.
My question is simple: how can the minister agree to give families money he does not have? How can the government spend billions of dollars while creating a deficit, a debt? Our children are the ones who are going to have to repay this money.