Mr. Speaker, I want to make a couple of points.
First, I would like to try to distance his comments from the Prime Minister who was finance minister as these deficits started increasing dramatically. If the member would at least acknowledge that an error was made at the time and that the
government was going to try to correct the error, he would be moving in the right direction.
The second point is that to make a statement that the government has lowered its spending is totally out of line. Spending in this budget, by the government's own figures, has increased by about $1.5 billion. Therefore, let him be accurate about the budget. I would think this member would know this.