Mr. Speaker, let me just say to the hon. member that the Mulroney government was not perfect. However, I have to remind him that neither is the present Liberal government close to perfect.
A Liberal member reminded me the other day how bad the Conservative government was. I said “Yes, in Canadians' wildest dreams they probably did not think they would see a government worse, but I am sorry to say they are seeing one right now sitting in the Chamber”.
As I said initially in the first paragraph of my speech, for 25 years the Liberals have been in power for 16 of the 25. For the first time the budget will not see an increase in the country's debt.
I look the hon. member straight in the face and say to him that he should say thank you for the Mulroney initiatives, the PC initiatives of GST and NAFTA. Without them this finance minister would not be bringing in the budget on February 24 that he will bring in.