Mr. Speaker, when the Conservative Party was thrown out of office in 1993 it left a sorry legacy of high unemployment, high taxes, high deficit and high interest rates. Canadians had lost complete confidence in the Conservatives' ability to manage the economy and further the interests of our nation. The unemployment rate was 11.4% and Canadians faced a $42 billion deficit, the highest in Canadian history.
Today, after six years of Liberal management, the country has turned around. The unemployment rate is 6.8%, 4.6% lower than when we took office. Over 1.7 million jobs have been created in the private sector since this Liberal government took office. Our government's jobs and growth strategy has created more jobs in just six years than in nine years under Tory prime ministers Mulroney and Campbell—