Mr. Speaker, I listened very carefully to the interesting comments made by my distinguished colleague, the hon. member for La Prairie. I want to ask him if he finds it normal that a government running a country on the verge of bankruptcy tolerate having accounts receivable of $6.4 billion and a revenue minister who does not do much to recover that amount?
Does the hon. member finds it reasonable that a government on the verge of bankruptcy play war games and spend $2 million in just 48 hours?
Does he find it reasonable that the parliamentary restaurant, on the sixth floor of this building, incurred losses of $2 million last year presumably because its clients, including senators and others, would leave without paying their bills?
Does he find it reasonable that a government running a country on the verge of bankruptcy would have an agency such as the CSE, which has over 1,000 employees and an annual budget of 250 to 260 million dollars? These people are not all spies but, seemingly, several of them are.
Does the hon. member find it normal that this same government accept the fact that large amounts of money in family trusts are exempt of normal taxes?
Since my colleague used to be an alderman in his home town, I also want to ask him if he agrees that the federal government should follow the example of municipalities and table a balanced budget? If the government insists on playing Santa Claus, it should not do so at the expense of future generations. Instead, it should have the courage to raise taxes. It is easy to be generous when you know that it is the third or fourth generation down the line which will have to pay for the goodies handed out now.
Finally, does he find it normal that a government borrow, often from foreign countries, to pay the interest on the deficit for the current year?
There are several questions. I would appreciate it if the hon. member for La Prairie could answer most of them.