Mr. Speaker, I thank you, but if this is the new way of putting it, I have to say I profoundly disagree with the minister.
It is nevertheless all to your credit, Mr. Speaker, that you picked up on my words, when I would have expected the minister to defend his honour himself.
I will close with a quote from the member for Shawinigan, who wrote the following to an Action-chômage group in February 1993. He said, about the Conservative government of the time, “Instead of going after the heart of the problem, they are going after the unemployed. These measures will have troubling repercussions, because they discourage workers”. The current Prime Minister went on to say “When the people have an opportunity to speak in 1993, there will be a change in course. I am sure that a new team offering new approaches and policies will help Canadians recover the confidence and hope they lost with the present government”. He was still talking about the Conservatives. The signature is that of the member for Shawinigan.
In closing, I would like to sing part of a famous song by Félix Leclerc, which goes like this:
On the eve of election He'll call you his son The following day, a hundred to one Your name he will shun
And that is exactly what happened.