Mr. Speaker, the repeated drops in the value of the Canadian dollar and hikes in interest rates can be attributed to the government's inaction and its refusal, for more than one year, to work on cutting the government machine's overall spending. Financial circles are becoming even more sceptical because of the possibility that the government will try to arrest its deficit by implementing new taxes or a general surtax on income.
Will the Minister of Finance admit that his government's inaction and complete nonchalance have directly caused interest rates to rise, in particular mortgage rates? Will he admit that implementing a general surtax will strangle economic growth and will only drive interest rates even higher?