Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his speech.
That is as much as I will try this morning. I'm working on it and it will come along, I'm sure.
I would like to comment on two or three points that the member raised. I have not heard in the House for some time if ever phrases such as the neo-conservative outlook and so on. I thought a lot of those comments had gone with the demise of the NDP. I had hoped that a lot of those phrases had gone into the past.
There are two or three things I would like him to comment on. One is that we should not worry so much about the debt, that the debt and deficit are not a serious concern. He feels it is like a businessman who is investing in the future. I would point out to him first of all that no businessman is afraid of borrowing but a businessman is frequently afraid of borrowing year after year because of the inevitability of what that means. It means he will go broke.
I would ask the hon. member to comment on how long he thinks it is good to borrow, if he thinks we should continue to go in debt indefinitely or whether there should be an end in sight.
Second, as an example of what will happen if we do not control this debt and deficit, I ask him to look at today's Globe and Mail . There is an article about the fact that Ontario is now being forced to search out niche markets to sell its bonds. This year it has gone to a 40-year bond option because no one will buy the 30-year bond. It is looking for tiny markets, tiny being $800 million this year, niche markets where it can sell more bonds. It is having trouble selling its bonds which means it is having trouble financing its debt.
Every year that goes by that we continually go in debt makes it difficult to the point at which our wealthiest or at least our biggest province is now having to search out niche markets to sell bonds. I find that incredible.
I would like the hon. member to comment on how long he thinks a country, province, or any organization should continue to go in debt and why he thinks that Canada, Quebec or any region is immune from market forces, in other words the forces which say it is going to be increasingly hard to finance that debt.