Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the parliamentary secretary for being the last dog here as it were on the government side. He is a very lonely advocate of the government's policy this evening but a persistent one nevertheless.
I have a question for the member for Stoney Creek. When he speaks about the government's purported success in balancing the fiscal budget, I think all Canadians will admit, as do I partisanship notwithstanding, that some credit is due this government, but I say only some credit.
Would the member not admit that about three-quarters of the deficit reduction to date is attributable directly to higher revenues, a large portion of which is attributable to higher tax rates partly through bracket creep, partly through the CPP payroll tax and other things such as the capital taxes on businesses.
Would he not furthermore admit that the percentage of cuts in the CHST for health care to the provinces was far higher than were the actual cuts to the government's own operating budgets for its departments?
Would he not fairly admit that revenue increases were the principal source of deficit reduction and that the government for whatever reason chose to cut health care transfers to the provinces to a far greater degree than it cut its own program spending here in Ottawa?