Mr. Speaker, in terms of referring to an actual economic philosophy based upon less debt and less tax, I actually take exception to the concept that an economic philosophy based upon less debt and less tax and putting more disposable income back into Canadians' pockets is considered to be a 19th century philosophy. If anything, over the last 10 to 15 years we have learned that governments cannot spend their money any better than individual Canadians do. The only economies that actually have any consistent growth are the ones that have less debt and less taxation.
Looking at the initiatives in other countries such as Ireland or the Netherlands, when they made substantial reductions in terms of their personal taxes what was the result? The result was more growth in their economy.
The Canadian domestic economy is at its lowest compared to the other G-7 countries. The reason is that there is not the amount of disposable income in Canadians' pockets so that they actually have an opportunity to spend money and get the economy going here in Canada. Any growth we have is based on our export industry.
Will the member at least admit that the only economies that have actually had any consistent growth among the G-7 countries are the ones based upon less debt and less tax?