Mr. Speaker, last summer the leader of the Reform Party decided to use the unprecedented tactic of going overseas to deride the Canadian economy during a speech in Hong Kong to investors and business professionals.
He claimed that the Canadian dollar and the Canadian economy was facing a major economic crisis.
Fortunately the Reform leader's doomsday predictions have not come anywhere near to being realized. In fact our government's prudent approach in managing the economy has proven to be the right one.
Consider the evidence. The Canadian dollar has now regained its strength and unemployment is down to its lowest level in nearly nine years. Youth unemployment in 1998 saw a net increase of 143,000 jobs, the best result in 20 years. This is just a small part of the overall total of 1.5 million jobs created since our government took office in 1993.
I for one am glad the government did not listen to Reform's demands last summer to scrap the budget plan. I look forward to even more of the responsible fiscal management we have come to expect from our government in the upcoming budget.