Madam Speaker, the member for Oxford's usual lack of courage is clearly in evidence here when he says he will vote for the Minister of Finance's budget. He is not as brave as the member for York South—Weston who voted against the Minister of Finance's budget because his party refused to keep its promise to abolish the GST. He was kicked out of the party and his constituents rewarded him in 1997 by re-electing him to office.
What the member for Oxford failed to point out is that, of the 100% of workers who pay EI premiums, only 41% qualify for benefits. The $20 billion surplus was used to balance the budget, and that is the fact of the matter.
In addition, his government will have cut health care by $33 billion by 2003. He does not tell us that. The government says that it will add a few billion dollars, but it has already cut $42 billion. The member for Oxford lacks courage and will fall to his knees and vote for the budget.