Mr. Speaker, that may be what the finance minister says, but it is not what our manufacturers and exporters are saying. Yesterday they released a statement in response to the finance minister saying “The finance minister is simply off base when he says Canadians should not worry about falling living standards”. That is from the Alliance of Manufacturers and Exporters. It said that the current situation is not adequate to ensure continued growth in Canada's place in the international marketplace. It said that last year Canada had gone from fifth place in the G-7 in terms of productivity to last place.
Is the finance minister telling us that the Alliance of Manufacturers and Exporters is wrong when it says that Canada—