Mr. Speaker, I will be brief. The member from the PC Party chided me for not knowing the difference between debt and deficit. It is my contention that he is the one who does not understand. He and members on the Liberal side frequently talk about paying off the deficit.
By definition it cannot be done. The deficit is an amount that one borrows. The best one can do is to reduce the amount of borrowing or to stop borrowing. One cannot pay off a deficit since it is intangible. It is simply the amount borrowed.
I objected to the use of the terminology because many people do not understand it. It confuses them into thinking that we are paying off or have paid off the debt which still stands at close to $600 billion. I just wanted to correct that point.