Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Mississauga South for his speech.
I was surprised to hear him speak so enthusiastically, praising the government for its fiscal management. As I listened to him, I wondered whether he was fully aware of what is really going on.
Yes, the government has eliminated the deficit. Yes, it has accumulated surpluses, but we must look at how it was done. This government acted in the most cowardly fashion to eliminate its deficit. Only 11% of savings, if I can use that word, came from its own programs. All the rest was achieved at the expense of the provinces, through cuts in their transfer payments for health, post-secondary education and social programs, and at the expense of workers and employers who contribute to the employment insurance fund.
This approach did allow the government to accumulate surpluses, with the result that, for example, the provinces had to make drastic cuts in health and education to the point where 80% of cuts affecting the Quebec health care system today are the direct result of this government's cuts in transfers to the provinces.
It is the federal government's fault if it has become so difficult for people to get medical care today. And we hear the members opposite blow their own horn and say how good they were at managing public finances. It is outreageous.