Madam Speaker, I have listened very carefully this morning and this afternoon to the arguments presented by my Liberal colleagues across the way. I am surprised that they continue to argue we are not in a serious situation, that they are somehow being more compassionate than we are in what they are doing, that they are not seriously addressing the debt and deficit situation.
Is balancing the budget not the most compassionate thing we could ever do to preserve our social programs? Is it not the fact that we must stop borrowing more money, that we must immediately come to a situation where we stop increasing the interest payments? Are these interest payments not the most serious threat to our social programs?
If they are the most serious threat, is not the most compassionate thing we can do to get our house in order to balance the budget as quickly as possible, decide on what is important and get there as quickly as possible?