Mr. Speaker, I am delighted the member opposite is listening so closely to what we have to say.
When we came to office in 1993, people seem to forget that we had a detailed elaborate plan for dealing with the fiscal problems faced by the federal government.
One of the reasons we stressed fiscal responsibility with the federal government is that in terms of interest rates, in terms of the strength of the dollar, it is the performance of the federal government that counts.
At the moment, there are two provinces which are still struggling with their deficit problems, yet our interest rates are lower than they have ever been, the growth in GDP is higher than it has been for many, many decades and so on. That is because it is seen by the international investment community that the federal government has its own house in order and has had and still has plans for what it is going to do in the future.
In 1993 when we came in, our plan was designed to put Canada on a good fiscal track. Because we have done that we have these other advantages, the lower interest rates that are helping the provinces at this time, the lower interest rates that are helping our businesses at this time, and so on.
All I can say is that I am delighted that the deficit has now been eliminated. I am delighted at the way we have done it.