Mr. Speaker, first of all I would like to acknowledge what a privilege it has been to serve in the same caucus as the hon. member for Capilano-Howe Sound. It has been very illuminating for many of us to have an economist of his world stature participating in the debates of the House and speaking honestly about problems.
We cannot solve the problems of the country if we do not address them honestly. That is what we are trying to do here. We are addressing the problems that the nation has. We did not get into a $600 billion federal debt by accident. We are in this mess because people of good heart and little else took us down this path unknowingly. We are not suggesting that they got up in the morning and said: "How are we going to screw future generations of Canadians?" It just happened. Now we have to deal with mess, do something right and only straight talk is going to get us there.
There is some straight talk but it is not normally found in this House. Early in his comments the hon. member for Capilano-Howe Sound mentioned a very excellent book which should be required reading for all members of Parliament, including members opposite of the Liberal Party. That is the book "Double Vision" written by Edward Greenspon and Anthony William-Smith about the first three years of the Liberal reign at the end of this millennium.
It speaks very eloquently of the battle that raged within the Liberal Party on whether they were going to finally fess up to the fact that our country was and still has the potential to be a financial basket case if we do not stay the course.
I would like my colleague to amplify on page 276 of that book. I remember it very clearly because it was like a lighthouse. It just exemplified what has gone on in this Parliament. On page 276 the Minister of Finance was defending his budget to the bond traders, Salomon Brothers, 400 of them. Their question to him was: "Why should we believe the Liberals have got the forthrightness, the ability, to stay the course on the deficit reduction when they have never had that strength before, when they have never been able to do it. In the face of another election they open their wallets and give away future generations of Canadians' money. It is not their money. It is future generations' money. They have never had the strength to do it before, why should we believe you have the strength to do it now?"
His response was: "In his opinion the political competition in our country is the Reform Party. The Reform Party is committed to getting our financial house in order and the Reform Party will keep our feet to the fire". Would the hon. member for Capilano-Howe Sound respond to this?