Mr. Speaker, I have been observing the Reform Party for some time and things just did not add up about it.
Last Friday its members presented to the finance committee their plan to reduce government spending by $10 billion. On the suggestion of the member for Calgary Centre I undertook to read this document. The proposal for reductions is broken down into five parts: first, $70 million; second, zero; the third is $3.5 billion plus $.64 billion; four, $1 billion; and five is $2 billion plus $1.7 billion, plus an additional $.125 billion. This adds up to only $9.035 billion, a shortfall of $1 billion.
To ensure I was correct I had a chartered accountant, an economist, two students at Carleton University and one at Ottawa University check the figures. The results are the same. Members of the Reform Party cannot add and they do not add up to Canada either.
There is only one finance minister but it took their three finance critics to come up with this result.