Mr. Speaker, it may come as a surprise to our beloved finance minister to learn that last Friday in my riding of Saskatoon-Humboldt there were no less than four individuals passing themselves off as the Minister of Finance of Canada.
The culprits are students from the University of Saskatchewan participating in an annual term project, the brainchild of Professor Marv Painter of the college of commerce, whereby undergraduate commerce and MBA students produce a federal budget.
This year 138 students made up the four teams which presented their government initiatives regarding economic and social policy, taxation, government spending, deficits and debt.
In support of their budget proposals, each group determined the source of revenues, allocation of expenditures and future estimates of GDP growth, interest rates, inflation and so on.
As one of a group of 50 invited to hear the budget speeches, I was very impressed with the effort put into this project and the vigour with which the students attacked this thorny fiscal challenge.
My congratulations to Professor Marv Painter and finance ministers Michelle Cocks, Roger Miller, Curtis McKenzie and Judy Karwacki, and the other students on a job well done.