Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister likes to dwell on the past. I am wondering whether he remembers a time in 1978 when Mr. Trudeau went to an economic summit in West Germany and was somehow briefly converted to deficit reduction. He came back and went on TV. Does the Prime Minister remember this? He announced $2 billion in spending cuts without even telling his finance minister, who is now the Prime Minister.
Could the Prime Minister take a short trip, perhaps to Queen's Park; take a few lessons on budget balancing from Mr. Harris; get on TV and commit himself to spending cuts that will balance the federal budget?
Eight of eleven senior governments in Canada are now committed to deficit elimination. Will the Prime Minister make the Government of Canada the ninth, by committing to balance the federal budget by 1997-98?