Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question.
I only had 10 minutes so I could only go back to 1988. If I have the consent of the House I could go back to 1867 if hon. members would like to hear it.
When I was in opposition I did not vote for the GST. The Liberal Party fought the GST every step of the way. I was the revenue critic for the Liberal Party at that time. I went across the country advising businesses not to pay the GST until the law was actually passed. You will remember, Mr. Speaker, that the Conservative government was trying to collect the tax months before the legislation went through the Senate and indeed received royal assent.
Let us talk common sense. Of course the accumulated debt increased from $500 million to $585 million during the three years that we were in our original mandate. Why? Because we were still paying down the deficit. We cannot pay down the debt until we get rid of the deficit. We have gotten rid of the deficit. Now we will see the figures go down.