Mr. Speaker, I listened attentively to the hon. member's remarks and I feel that they represent the views of the Liberal Party. He is content with the budget initiatives put forward by the federal government and I find his speech extremely dangerous, despite his eloquence. He may be trying to lull people into a false sense of security. You know about the current crisis in Canada. I saw the poverty in my riding two weeks ago. One does not have to look very far to see that poverty is widespread; unemployment is very serious and people are concerned about the confidence they placed in the current government because they know that it did not do much in its last budget. It tried lukewarm measures that lack conviction, that lack direction.
For example, to reduce the deficit, the hon. member seems content with the deficit reduction that was announced and with the fact that the goal may be achieved, but I feel that several
other measures could have been proposed to reduce this extremely alarming deficit that shook the stock market and sent the dollar tumbling.
We in the Bloc Quebecois have proposed several measures to bring down the deficit, including cutting the fat from the federal government. There are hardly any measures in the budget to reduce waste in the federal government.
Would the hon. member agree to help reduce Canada's deficit? Would he agree to set up a parliamentary committee to examine spending and waste in government?