Mr. Speaker, in response to the hon. member's question, I think that we should simply consult the experts. Allow me to quote one of them: “To state things clearly, we must not panic but maintain the discipline that we worked so hard to acquire in recent years. Otherwise, we would very quickly find ourselves with an even weaker currency, higher interest rates, lower investments and higher unemployment.” That is what Ken Courtis, the chief economist of the Deutsche Bank, said. The hon. member is suggesting we go back to a deficit position. But that is not our intention.
In the House of Commons on September 24th, 1998. See this statement in context.