Mr. Speaker, I will first answer the hon. member's second question. I said, as did Mr. Fortin to the Standing Committee on Finance, that we have to exert pressure to lower interest rates.
Increasing the deficit will not solve the problem: it will only postpone it and make it worse. We have to find a way to lower interest rates, so that small and medium size businesses can get the money they need to expand. Let us not forget that there is a production capacity in our country.
The hon. member mentioned that the deficit started under the Liberals. That is true. However, when the Liberals left in 1984, the deficit stood at $160 billion, whereas when they came back last year, it had grown to $460 billion. Between 1984 and 1994, the deficit grew by 250 per cent, in spite of unprecedented levels of revenues.