Mr. Speaker, I did not quite catch what the member said. Did he say consult Canadians or insult Canadians? I cannot remember.
The hon. member raised a lot of different issues. It will be difficult to touch on them all. I will try to be brief.
I think everyone would agree the member is very naive if he is suggesting that Canadians voted with one voice on the government's fiscal platform in the last election campaign. Surely he acknowledges that people voted on many issues including primarily, I would argue, national unity. That was a huge issue in the election campaign.
The government's majority was diminished. What does that say of the support it has for its programs? It has the barest of majorities right now.
Instead of simply having an election on their economic approach, many provinces such as Alberta have consulted their citizens directly. It is time to go to the people on a fundamental decision such as that and ask them directly. We should not be doing it by a committee that travels around once in a while to ask people what should be in this year's budget.
The optimal size of government, the optimal level of taxes and the optimal level of debt are extraordinarily important issues. I am going to ignore most of the rhetoric from my hon. friend and make that point.
I would conclude by asking—