Mr. Speaker, it is always an interesting discussion when the hon. member opposite begins to wax eloquent, especially if the wax is not fully hardened yet. I have particularly enjoyed some of his diatribe. It has been quite good.
I would like to add to what one of our hon. members just mentioned. This mutatis mutandis attitude the Liberal government has: Do not worry, be happy, everything will be okay. I wonder if those watching have heard enough yet from the Liberal side of the House that they will somehow, hopefully with about a 6 or 7 per cent growth rate, be able to balance the budget. I suppose sometime into their grandchildren's funeral party they will somehow be able to bring together a government plan that will bring the deficit down to zero.
Canadians are not fooled by the idea that if we set the boundary so low we can never be disappointed, if we just say that some illusive day we will be able to balance the budget. Canadians have had enough of this. That is why the green book, the red book, the mauve book, the pink book, the grey book, the flurry of studies this government has brought forward, not one of them has any idea that is ever going to solve this deficit problem. They are discussion papers. The latest one is another discussion paper. The Liberals put a nice title on it: "Jobs and Growth". It sounds good, but in the body of it there are no details, no goals, no dollar figures and no costing of the options.
The people watching are not fooled by this. Certainly on this side of the House we are not fooled by government proposals that continue to leave the dollar figures off the bottom line. The Canadian people are not fooled. It is time for action. The Liberals have wasted and squirrelled away a year. It has been the best year to take advantage of economic growth.
Why does this member and the government not move now while they have some political capital left to move and address this deficit problem? It is not going to get easier with the passing days. I encourage the member to grab the bull by the horns and come forward with some solid suggestions, not more discussion points.