Mr. Speaker, it was not too long ago that I and many of my colleagues were debating these very questions at all-candidates meetings. I have always been amazed at the extent to which it was hard to get the point across, particularly to members of the Reform Party.
Our position has been very consistent. It is in our red book. We went to Canadians. We told them about it. We put the plan forward and it is the foundation for everything we do. I believe this is where we differ from their approach. Fundamentally, we as Liberals believe in making this economy grow. We have outlined in our expenditure program that is exactly what we are going to do.
The Reform position was that it would eliminate the deficit within three years. Our position was that we would cut back the deficit to 3 per cent of the GDP in three years. The leader of the Reform Party has stood up on different occasions and challenged the government to attain that 3 per cent of the GDP. From looking at this budget and from studying the figures my answer is that we can.
I have to say to my friend from the Reform Party I hope he will stand in this House and applaud when we do accomplish that. We believe we have to make this economy grow. We cannot shrink it. If the economy shrinks we will go back into a recession. We have to believe in ourselves and we have to believe in the Canadian people.