Mr. Speaker, I found it interesting that the member would spend so much time during his speech defending the Brian Mulroney government saying that somehow the Liberal Party frustrated the prior government for nine years. He is nodding his head now, but I should remind him that the government of Brian Mulroney, which was turfed out, had a majority in both terms and had full control of its actions. We cannot pass on that blame. The member is just making rhetoric. In fact the prior Conservative government got exactly what it deserved.
I listened with interest to the medical analogy the member used when he talked about cuts, that we have only had scrapes and not deep cuts. The member tried to somehow imply there was a tax increase in this budget when he well knows there were $7 of cuts for every $1 of increased revenue and there were no increases in personal income tax. It was pure fabrication.
I want to ask the member a question with regard to his strategy and the response that his own leader gave to this House. His leader stood in this House and attacked the government for cuts to social programs. Yet this member is saying that we should have more cuts than what has been proposed by our government. How does this member square his position with the position of his own leader?