Mr. Speaker, if the member checks the blues he will learn that what I actually said about EI was that no one on the government side or any member in the House would say that everything is perfect with EI.
I also said that a very strong point would have to be made to cause the government to go back to the days before we reinvented EI. To say that there are not some areas that perhaps need some fine tuning is one thing, but I do not think we really want to go back to the days when we had a situation where EI was causing some fiscal pressures and problems for the government and for all Canadians.
I acknowledge that with the international liberalization of trade, Canada as a major exporting nation has benefited from that. That is very much part of the economic success that we are now experiencing.
I will highlight some measures that this government can take some credit for, such as low interest rates, which is often forgotten in the debate. Because of the low interest rates today, the average family with a $100,000 mortgage save something like $3,000 a year.
Business investment has much improved with low interest rates. I know this from my days in the private sector where decisions were being made to invest in the United States because of the cost of capital differential. That has now been removed.
As well, the monetary policy of the Bank of Canada has created a situation where inflation is being moderated. That has also contributed to the economic success of Canada and has created a situation in the country where Canadians are feeling more confident today than they have ever been and certainly more confident than they were in the days of the Tory regime.