Mr. Speaker, I listened to the hon. member's speech with attention and interest. At the beginning of his speech, he made the following statement:
"The government has been putting its money where its mouth is". With all due respect the government does not have any money. It is in the red. It has only debt.
Am I to understand that the government has been putting the people's money in its mouth? That is a great concern to me.
Furthermore I listened carefully to the hon. member when he said that Mr. Bourbeau gave us a passing grade. I was a teacher and a passing grade is nothing they should be proud of. They should be doing a lot better. That was what I expected from the Liberal government.
For years, I have heard budget forecasts claiming that the deficit would be reduced year by year. I remember a Conservative government about ten years ago saying similar things to what we have been hearing for several days. I remember a Conservative government then telling us year after year that the deficit would be reduced within five years. We will be able to judge a year from now if this budget was on target. In a year, we will know if the deficit was indeed kept below $40 billion. I am far from convinced by the rhetoric of our colleagues opposite that we will get there, that they will succeed.
In conclusion, they talked about job creation. The real test will be how many new jobs will be created in a year. I am concerned and I remain concerned and I am waiting to hear what the hon. member has to say.