Mr. Speaker, the answer is no.
If you read Moody's press release, it did not assign a cause for blame in terms of social spending. It looked at the overall financial condition of the federal government and the provinces.
There is no doubt as we approach the budget that it is going to be important that we cut government spending. It is going to be important that we cut government spending in each part of its operation.
I would remind the hon. member that most studies in this area have also indicated that short term cutting of social spending hurts people's health, their ability to be trained and their ability to get work in the long run. As a leading economist I am sure the hon. member would agree that would add to the deficit. That is the balance that we have to bring to this particular exercise.