Mr. Speaker, one thing this government has done very successfully is adopt its election platform, carry it through and do what it said it was going to do.
I recall in the red book it indicated that we would be reducing our annual deficit as a percentage of the GDP to 3 per cent. Mark my words, this government through program review and through a number of initiatives has gone a long way in doing what it said it would do.
I think in the budget over the next few years when we are dealing with our expenditure problems we will be moving in that direction. We are going to meet that target. We will be dealing with the deficit. I hope when people react to the types of budgets we will be bringing forward the Reform Party will be proud to say it did it twice as fast as we did.
With respect to the success of western diversification and ACOA, I know these have been picked on mercilessly today by members of the Reform Party. We were also elected to enhance and encourage regional development right across this country. We have to utilize the wealth of this nation to make sure people all across this country have access to economic opportunity.
We will do likewise with the deficit. We will do what we said we would do by utilizing these agencies to properly and intelligently promote regional and economic development. I know the Reform Party would like to leave the impression that somehow money is handed out willy-nilly. Such is not the case. The people who manage these, whether it is western diversification or ACOA in the Atlantic provinces, are extremely capable, qualified individuals who select business propositions on grounds of merit. Over the years we have seen a tremendous number of successes come out of these types of operations.
As I have indicated, this government will do what it said it would do. We are going to reduce the deficit and we are going to enhance our regional economies by the sensible spending of the taxpayers' dollars.