Mr. Speaker, if the treasury could have a dollar for every excuse like the one given for not balancing the budget, the deficit could be eliminated.
Eight out of eleven senior governments in the country are committed to eliminating their deficits, not just reducing them, and are much further down that road than the federal government. As the provinces get closer to balancing their budgets, they fear that a fiscally irresponsible federal government will move into the tax room they have vacated.
Will the Prime Minister today assure the provinces the federal government will not undermine the positive effects of provincial tax decreases by federal tax increases?