Mr. Speaker, true, I talk a lot about the deficit but, you see, a few years ago I thought it was my money at stake, but I realized some time ago that it is my children's and perhaps even my grandchildren's money.
The hon. member mentioned many things, one of which I want to correct, if he would kindly allow me to do so. He said that one-third of the tax collected by the government is used to service the debt. Unfortunately, it is a lot worse than that. Zero per cent is used to service the debt. One hundred per cent is used for programs. We do not pay the debt and the interest just adds on. How unfortunate.
However, I have a question for the hon. member if he does not mind. I will read something that was printed in La Presse in Montreal. I will read it in French. I am sure he will be able to follow it through the translation.
"The changes to the unemployment insurance program announced in the last federal budget make unemployed Canadians bear the brunt of over half of all new Liberal cuts", as if cuts could be liberal, "and will cost the provinces $1 billion, including $280 million in Quebec alone".
This is the question I would like the hon. member to address. It seems that the federal government has succeeded in keeping the deficit just below the $40 billion mark by shovelling part of the problem into the backyard of every one of the provinces. How does the member react to that?