Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows there is no fictitious accounting. Our books are certified by the auditor general. The auditor general goes through them and it is according to generally accepted accounting principles. I do not think that it behoves the hon. member to cast aspersions on the federal government's numbers because he knows the implications of what he is saying.
I would like to go to the member's question of transfers. We all have to understand something. When we cut, whether it is transfers, which we do not want to do, or in our own backyard, it impacts on the provinces. It really is slightly bogus to talk about cutting this way and cutting in our own backyard as if it does not cut the provinces.
If military spending is cut and a base is cut in a province it is a cut in that province. Is the hon. member saying that we should cut old age pensions? We will not do it. However, if we ever did, it would impact on welfare in the provinces. Is he saying we should cut R and D? If we did, it would affect the universities.
There is nothing the federal government does that does not impact on the country. That is why we will not cut old age pensions, why we will not cut research and development and why we will not savage this country.