Mr. Speaker, the finance minister is unwise to criticize the auditor general. The auditor general says the Prime Minister is breaking the government's own accounting rules. This is the third time he has said it. If the auditor general cannot trust the budget, how can the public or this House trust the budget?
Here are the facts. If the Prime Minister had followed acceptable accounting rules, there would have been a $2.5 billion surplus. But the books were cooked to show no surplus, meaning less tax relief and debt reduction for Canadians.
Is not the real reason the books were cooked so that there would be no surplus left for real tax relief or real debt reduction?