Madam Speaker, I was beginning to despair at the length of the question, its preamble in particular.
I will never apologize, because what I said was the truth, accurate and verifiable. Over the past four years, the Minister of Finance has cut everywhere except there. Fifty-two per cent of the cuts he imposed have been made by the provinces in such areas as social assistance, post-secondary education, and health.
If he is capable of doing the math—and I have my doubts—let him look at the budgets since 1995 and he will realize these are the right figures.
The other source for getting public finances back onto an even keel: tax increases, and the employment insurance surplus made up of employer and employee contributions, 37% of the sacrifices and efforts to get our fiscal house in order. Now we are up to nearly 90%; 90% of the recovery has been from the most disadvantaged provinces, the poorest provinces, the average taxpayer. The percentage that is really connected to the Minister of Finance's cleaning up his own act is 10%. Ten per cent! And I should apologize for saying that he is not the one responsible?
Another point: I will never apologize to the Minister of Finance, because I am not the one who introduced Bill C-28. He is the one who did. Out of 464 pages, two paragraphs dealt with, deal with, a change to the Income Tax Act affecting international shipping companies and international shipping holding companies, like his. I should apologize?
I should apologize for having discovered that loophole in Bill C-28, an omnibus bill? Two paragraphs out of 464 pages, and I should apologize for the fact that the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister have been rising in this House for the past month to tell us that there is perhaps a doubt, an apparent conflict of interest. Mr. Wilson, the ethics counsellor, has said so. But there will be no light cast on this matter. They will even refuse requests from the four opposition parties calling for a special subcommittee of the Finance Committee to get to the bottom of this. And I should apologize for the lack of transparency? No way.