Mr. Speaker, sound long term economic policy takes years to have an effect. It also takes consistency. Let us talk about consistency. The hon. member was first elected to this House in 1988 I believe. As I said, consistency is critical when we are talking about sound economic policy.
The Economist magazine's 1998 preview did say specifically that the deficit reduction in Canada was largely due to structural changes made in the Canadian economy by the government in the early 1990s, free trade, the GST, deregulation, including the elimination of the national energy program—and I hope my friends in the Reform Party appreciate us for that—and deregulation of transportation and financial services.
Where did the member stand on the issue of free trade and on the issue of the GST? We have acknowledged that consistency is critical. Where did he stand at that time on those two issues?