Madam Chairman, it is really hard to understand why the government in power cannot say: "No, we are not going to give any more bonuses to bilingualism". Would that not be a great thing to say? The government would be applauded. Or it could say: "No, we are not going to spend any more money in our prisons to buy condoms. Canadians do not like us doing that, so we will stop".
Why do government members not have the guts to stand up and say some of these things? They have the opportunity to do some of these things and they do not. That is what I absolutely cannot understand and neither can anybody across this land. They can sit over there an brag all they want.
Why did the minister not talk about the 80,000 bankruptcies last year? They all blame the government of the day. I would like the minister to tell me where the savings are. I did not go to Yale nor did I go wherever he went. When the government pays $30 billion interest and then somewhere down the road it is paying $50 billion interest, that is a $20 billion increase. That is what it represents. Interest debt servicing has become the largest expense this government has. I think that is correct and if not, the minister can set me straight. It is the largest expenditure we now have.
When we have a $30 billion deficit, then we go to a $17 billion deficit we have just saved $13 billion, but the interest has gone up by $17 billion. I would like to know where the savings are? Are there any savings? I do not think so.