I guess that is what they are looking for. They can go into the next election and say: "This is what we wanted to do for those first five years and we are really going to do it in the second five years". That is unacceptable.
Well done is better than well said. The government should think about that. All it is doing is talking. Meanwhile people are waiting. Maybe it is just not all talk. Maybe there are some things the government has done.
Since being elected it has overspent in the last two years $80 billion plus. Congratulations. Add the interest on top and the figure is close to putting $100 billion more debt on the backs of our children. The Liberal members sit there sanctimoniously talking about how well they are doing.
People listening to this have to be really disgusted with this kind of talk about how they are empowered, how they have done things, how they are doing things. What they have done is put us deeper in debt.
When I talk about the social programs, the question has to be asked: How is the government going to address social programs when it is blowing the budget every year and adding more debt? The fact is that the premiums have to go up and the benefits have to come down. If the government keeps spending and spending into oblivion it is going to cost big time. Government members sit there spouting this rhetoric, like they are going to do something. They have done something all right.
Let us talk about the member who has just finished speaking. "Canada works. Canadians feel that Canada works". As I recall, during the last election campaign, I said that Canada was not working very well. The people said: "Yes, we agree with you. Canada is not working very well". Where does Canada work? Where Liberals sit, where their Liberal ridings are, is that where Canada works? It does not work in my riding.
Let us make a comment on this statement. The Liberals have a straightforward goal. They are talking about a vision and a new economy. Yes, they are creating a new economy. Congratulations. We are back to the $80 billion over two years again. They are creating a new economy all right. We are going down hill fast. If they had anything serious to do with the economy they would not set ridiculous financial targets like having a deficit which is 3 per cent of the gross domestic product after three years.
What the Liberals are really saying is after three years we will be overspending every year by $26 billion. What kind of logic is that in a day and age when we have $565 billion of debt? What kind of responsibility is that of a majority government to the young kids in this country?
I have another comment and then I will get on to what I really wanted to talk about. I just have to address these things sometimes.
The comment was made that 500,000 jobs have been created. Where do we get this figure of 500,000 jobs from? Where does this number come from? I followed up on one of these comments that was made in Atlantic Canada where the government had said it had created 40,000 jobs in ACOA. As it happens the challenge was put out to prove it.
The government backed off and said: "We say it is 40,000 jobs, we know". Show us how. How did the government figure that out. With a survey of a half dozen or so companies extrapolated came out to 40,000 people if this and this and this happened. It is hogwash. When the government throws out numbers like 500,000 new jobs it is hogwash. It cannot prove it.
In fact the government talked about 100,000 jobs in infrastructure. It only cost us $6 billion, and if there are 100,000 jobs, most of them are temporary. Who is going to pick up the bill for $6 billion? Congratulations. To get their names on the stats for the unemployed they have spent $6 billion of the taxpayers' money. I would not pat myself on the back if I were a Liberal. I would be ashamed.
Now I am going to say what I really wanted to say. This bill transfers powers from the former ministry of employment and immigration. I guess it is necessary to transfer the powers. The Liberals took over from the Conservatives. There is going to be a name change, move people around and that sort of thing. However, let us look at the job they have done.
After 30 years of big government, both Liberal and Conservative, we have ended up with less security instead of more because they mortgaged our future. There is less security today than there was before in the social programs. Now the Liberals come into the House and say they have a real novel idea. They are going to fix it. That is novel, after 30 years of being at the trough.
Pensions by and large are unfunded today.