Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to the member's comments. I want to address the issue about the national debt, some $550 billion. This is a very large amount which scares many Canadians. It represents an amount that has been accumulated over the last 25 years. Some $350 billion has been accumulated in terms of accumulated deficit. The balance is compounded interest.
One of the things members do not ever talk about is the rest of the balance sheet of the Government of Canada. Since the previous questioner was talking about the Fraser Institute, let me share with members what the Fraser Institute had to say about the assets of Canada. It said that the value of Canada, excluding the land value, was some $3 trillion.
If all the assets, the purchases, the goods that Canada owns excluding the land, were to be put on the balance sheet, those $3 trillion worth of assets would be there along with the debt. It is like a mortgage. It is a mortgage that has to be paid down. It is a mortgage that will be paid down, but it will not be paid down on the backs of the poor, the disadvantaged and the seniors as the Reform Party has been advocating all along.
I will put it simply for the member. If he is like other Canadians he probably bought a house and has a mortgage. Does the member think the mortgage interest he pays is just throwing money away or is he investing in real assets which are to the benefit of him and his family for the rest of their lives?