Yes, I do agree with her when she says that what is going to happen when we head into the next recession with 9% unemployment, crippling taxes, a massive debt and a weak dollar is that we are going to have to spend and, after having spent the fiscal dividend, we will have little recourse but to run renewed deficits as income slows. That is a basic argument of mathematics.
The hon. member and his government are actually content with spending money without providing any meaningful tax relief to Canadians.
Let us hear what Sherry Cooper of Nesbitt Burns says. She says we are pouring all this money into education and scholarships and then the better and brighter will go straight to the U.S. where taxes are massively lower.
This member stands behind a millennium scholarship fund which does not kick in for two years. This fund will cost $2.5 billion and will help only 7% of students seeking higher education. It is appalling that he would be proud of it.
In 1984 when a Conservative government was elected the deficit as a percentage of GDP was 9%. We reduced that to 4% by 1993.
His government maintained our policies, including free trade and the GST. We deregulated the national energy program, which I hope my colleagues in the Reform Party have some appreciation for.