Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member, the new finance critic, for participating in the debate today. I congratulate him on his post.
I want to set the record straight with respect to what my friend said vis-à-vis Reform Party policy on debt. As my friend knows, last fall the party engaged in a round of consultations with Canadians across the country. We specifically went out to hear what Canadians had to say. Canadians said very clearly that they saw the debt as the number one issue across the country. My friend may mock this but the polls in fact confirm that.
No one will ever accuse the Conservative Party of listening too closely to Canadians. We know that. I think people who remember Brian Mulroney will attest to that.
I want to ask my friend a question. We heard a salute to Brian Mulroney from my hon. friend. He lauded the Conservative record, the record where they increased taxes 71 times, the record where they added $300 billion to the debt, the record where they led Canada into the worst recession outside the great depression that the country has ever seen, and the record where we saw the trust in politicians eroded to new lows because of that prime minister.
Because he seems to think that the previous record was so good, is hon. friend suggesting that a new Conservative government would continue with the self same policies that gave us those record debts, record taxes and record deficits that we had under Mulroney?