Mr. Speaker, one of the most distressing responses that came out pursuant to our budget was the intellectual dishonesty which emanated from the premier of Ontario and his finance minister. Their answer to the budget was to inform the citizens of Ontario that it will result in fewer health benefits and fewer hospital beds, even though Mr. Laughren admits the hit means a meagre 2 per cent cut in provincial spending.
I was dismayed to hear this, but not surprised. It reveals the NDP mentality whose knee-jerk reaction is to punish the people of Ontario for electing a federal Liberal government, a government which has a post-budget approval rate of 63 per cent, an all-time high.
This does not have to be. We are giving the provinces the power to develop and apply solutions to their regional problems as they see fit. If they are not content with the amount of dollars given, let them tighten their belts as we are doing ours. However Premier Rae wants to tighten other people's belts. He would prefer to cut down on hospital beds but gives no thought to cutting his own government's waste and especially so-