Mr. Speaker, this government's fiscal restraint is a sham.
Fact one: the entire deficit reduction of $25 billion is matched by $25 billion extra collected from the taxpayer. Fact two: the cuts in program spending needed to pay extra interest on the debt were achieved mainly by downloading on the provinces. Soon cuts in transfers for health and education will account for 84.3 per cent of all the federal government's cuts.
Ontario's minister of intergovernmental affairs put it this way: "Well, Mr. Minister, it is time to come clean. You will reduce transfers to the provinces by 42.2 per cent while you have only reduced other federal program spending by 1.3 per cent".
Downsizing of government is largely a Liberal myth. Revenue grabs and deficit shifting are despicable facts.