Mr. Speaker, for the past 14 months the Minister of Finance has promised he will reduce the deficit. We are still waiting.
Disappointed by his failure to act, the financial community and investors are becoming increasingly concerned about the government's failure to reduce the deficit. In fact, in a situation where we can expect the U.S. economy to start overheating, failure to reduce the deficit will always cause interest rates to rise in Canada.
Will the Minister of Finance admit that his weak-kneed approach to fighting the deficit and the miscalculations in his own budget plan are increasing concern in the financial community and among foreign investors, and that his failure to act is largely responsible for the rise in interest rates in this country?