Madam Speaker, I would like to participate in this debate this morning. After listening to the finance critic of the Official Opposition tell us that the government had things to hide and was doing things in secret, I would not like this debate on this motion to end leaving those listening to us under a completely erroneous impression. I want to set the record of this House straight.
This government was one of the first to establish a process that is open to consultation, first of all in this House where we have special days to debate the budget process. The Minister of Finance held public consultations throughout the country that were televised, not only for those who could take part in this debate, but also for people to follow it on television and even in the committees.
The hon. member referred to the committee where an agreement was first made. We had two days of hearings with all members of the committee. When the opposition asked for more time, their request was granted. We are operating with an order of the House which specifies that we will have two days, today and Monday, to debate the motions after they have been debated in committee at report stage.
So when they tell us that the government wants to rush this through and that we do everything in secret, the opposite is true, because this Liberal government established an open process in which everyone can participate. In the parliamentary reform we made at the beginning, when this House opened, we decided that for the next budget, the finance committee, on which the hon. member sits, will be able to help prepare the budget; it will not be as before, when we learned what the budget was only when the Minister of Finance came to the House to make his speech.
So, it is wrong to say that the Liberal government wants to rush changes through in secret, because everything was done publicly. We are still doing so and will continue to do so. I wanted to make sure that the other side of the coin is seen also and that our listeners can have the other side of the story.