Mr. Speaker, I have listened to the hon. government member with great interest and I would like to tell her that the deficit we are currently experiencing was initially caused by the Liberals in previous years and then fed by this deficit caused by the Conservatives. So, the two old parties are equally responsible for the economic disaster we are now faced with.
The member delivered a speech fit for the Canadian Club or an audience of scholars at a university. Now I think that the House of Commons is a place where things have to be put in pragmatic and practical terms. Her speech was packed with lip service, with pious wishes as to what the government could do. However, the people do not want to know what the government could do, but rather what it will do to resolve the problem. That is what matters. Any member of this House can rise and say fine words that do not add up to much and I was very disappointed.
The people of Canada and Quebec expect from government that it take its responsibilities, but we have been denied this from day one by the government across the way.
We will recall, Mr. Speaker, that at the time the red book came out, we were supposed to be able to find all the answers in it. As it turns out, after all these consultations and delays, this government is no further ahead than it was a year ago, the reason being that it does not know what to do. It keeps delaying and delaying and delaying. The people of Canada want answers now.
The problem is that in the 1970s, this Liberal government took steps to distribute wealth, which in itself was very commendable, but now, it is distributing the deficit. I would like my hon. colleague to tell me how the government intends to distribute the deficit, all the while ensuring that the underprivileged, the poor and the middle class will not be targeted as the ones having to pay the greatest part of this deficit.