Mr. Speaker, I want to compliment the Reform Party speakers in their philosophy of bringing the views of their constituents on to the floor of the House.
We saw them try to do this in question period. I wish they would do more of this in their debates. I have been using that practice for the 10 years that I have been representing Parkdale-High Park.
To begin input into this debate to help the Minister of Finance and the government reduce our public debt and deficit, I sent a questionnaire out to each household in Parkdale-High Park with a preamble about how Ottawa spends its money, where it gets its revenues and so on. I asked: "Do you agree that deficit reduction is one of the top priorities for the federal government?" The results are preliminary but already 88 per cent said yes. They agree that deficit reduction is one of the top priorities for the federal government in addition to job creation.
The second question I asked was: "Which of the following approaches would you support to help solve the deficit problem?" I asked them to check: increased personal income taxes; decreased government spending; or, a combination. Eighty-one per cent said that they support decreasing government spending to help solve the deficit problem. If they agreed to a decrease in government spending, I asked: "Are you willing to accept fewer government services in order to reduce the deficit?" I am pleased to say that 84 per cent of my constituents said yes, that they are willing to accept fewer government services in order to reduce the deficit.
I would like to ask the hon. member this. In his constituency which kinds of services would his constituents be willing to either eliminate or reduce? If we can do this in every riding, then we can help bring down the deficit and the public debt.