Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his comments. He correctly points out-and we are consistently pointing it out to the Canadian people-that while a balanced budget is a necessity it must be done in a way that is priorized.
We see education as an investment for Canadians. That is one area our members and Canadians at large have told us very clearly should not be cut. We do not want to see a lost generation and the problems implied with such a lost generation.
While we believe in fiscal responsibility, our program of zero in three clearly shows many areas in which we can make responsible cuts to the budget. However we would not include in that advanced education, training of our youth, federal payments to medicare, or environmental concerns.