Madam Speaker, I would love to congratulate the Minister of Finance for his supposedly excellent budget, as claimed by the hon. member for Restigouche-Chaleur. However, I find it difficult to do so, because I did not see anything very original in this budget.
Given that the tax burden continues to increase, that the deficit remains enormous, and that the debt continues to grow, does the hon. member agree that the government should go after the workers and the unemployed, particularly in New Brunswick, to collect more money? The budget provides that an extra $5 billion will be generated through higher contributions and fewer weeks of unemployment insurance benefit entitlement for the unemployed.
At the same time, the government is reducing transfer payments to the provinces to the tune of $3.5 billion per year. The extra money collected from the unemployed and the reduced amounts paid to the provinces total about $8.5 billion per year. This is more or less the amount by which the deficit will decrease in the coming year. This budget is not about innovating.
It makes the same old mistakes. Moreover, it increases the burden of the poor and of the most vulnerable members of our society, including the unemployed, while making them pay so much in unemployment insurance contributions, and making small and medium size businesses, particularly in Quebec and in New Brunswick, pay so much more.
I really wonder how the hon. member can congratulate the Minister of Finance.