Mr. Speaker, I listened intently to the hon. member's speech.
I hear a lot of members talk about deficits and debts in this venue. The reality is deficits represent unpaid taxes. It is not a simple matter of saying we will reduce spending today or that we will increase taxes. The bottom line is we have not paid all of our taxes from prior years.
In reality a lot of that spending occurred within the province of Quebec. It is no different than other parts of the country. There are bills which we have not paid. That is what deficits are all about.
It is not a simple matter of comparing the reduction in spending on certain programs today; we have to look at the reality of the past.
I was interested in the hon. member's discussion of the Dumas family. She did not mention a number of issues which would have had an impact on that family: possibly child tax credits, which have been increased, and that we have increased the cash flow to that family. That we are fighting the deficit as judiciously as we are has reduced interest rates significantly.
The Dumas family, I suspect, also has a mortgage on its house. The next time it remortgages its house it will find out its monthly payments have been reduced and its cash flow has been improved.
The summer youth employment program is not only private sector employers, it is governments as well. It is the municipalities and the not for profit sectors which exist within the province. That adds a benefit to the community by employing youth and also adds a benefit to the communities in which they serve.
These are other areas in which the federal government has created a linkage with youth in giving them experience which they can put on their resume when seeking future employment.
The facts are clear that in the last two and a half years the economy has created over 600,000 new jobs, many of which are in the province of Quebec.
I wonder if the hon. member would like to address some of the real impacts the budget has had which will make the Dumas family a lot better off than it was a year ago.