Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question.
I appreciate his suggestion that Liberals are more compassionate, although he put it in the form of a question. I would like to answer his question with a resounding yes.
The member fairly asks if it is not more compassionate to deal with the deficit. That is the essence of his question. It is logical to deal with the deficit. It is not an issue of compassion. I submit that if we were to have taken an approach as proposed by the third party, the Reform Party, compassion would have gone out the window.
When we are undertaking an operation as difficult as putting the finances of the country back on track, that is not something we can do overnight. It is like moving a huge ship. They have to have a number of little tugboats that work diligently to get the ship turned around in the harbour.
The finance minister recognizes, if the Reform Party does not, that you cannot do this overnight. With the draconian measures the Reform Party proposed in its own prebudget budget, the numbers frankly did not add up. It is something like the Harris budget plan for Ontario, for which there is a very indecipherable bottom line.
The issue of compassion must be balanced certainly by logic. That logic must lead us to a conclusion that is fair to all Canadians. For example, let us just say we are going to have a massive tax cut and that would be fair. It is more fair to the rich and less fair to the poor. If taxes are slashed 30 per cent, as Mr. Harris pretends he will do, then certainly if I were rich, which I am not, I would have a greater benefit than a poor person.
While the member's question in the context of his own party's philosophy might seem fair, I go back to my comments in my speech that a country is not a business. While it might need to be or should be run in a businesslike fashion, it is not a business. It is first about people. There is no way we can close our eyes, turn the pages of the budget, and stroke out items with a pen without considering their impact on people.
This government has taken action. The program review undertaken by the ministers of the crown has resulted in measures that will be effective. The result is in the reaction of Canadians and the reaction of the marketplaces around the world to the budget. There has been an extremely positive, balanced, and well considered response to this budget. That is the proof that the budget has hit the mark.
With that I suggest the member go back and look at his own prebudget plan. It would be too generous for me to say it was compassionate.