Madam Speaker, I want to congratulate the member for Verchères--Les-Patriotes for his speech. I think he clearly showed that the federal government can afford to make significant reinvestments in the economy and still table a balanced budget in December. While being conservative, and I mean conservative with a small c, it will be possible to pay down part of the debt and to reinvest in the economy as a partial remedy for the economic downturn.
I would like to ask my colleague if he understands the current attitude of the government, which I think is not doing a good job in terms of its reaction to the economic impact of the terrorist crisis. In terms of its role within the international community, things are not so clear. As for security matters the relevance of the government's actions is debatable. However, in terms of its reaction to the economic downturn, it seems clear to me that the government is not doing a good job.
Does the member agree with me that on the other side of the House both the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Human Resources Development seem to deal with this crisis as if it were business as usual, as if the situation were completely normal even though the effects of the downturn can be clearly felt? Is that not a somewhat irresponsible attitude on the part of these two ministers?