Mr. Speaker, I have been here eight years now and over the years we have continually pointed out where the government and its predecessors since 1993 have made poor choices for Canadians. I am often reminded of a saying that I have heard since I came to Ottawa: “Ottawa is about 20 square miles of city surrounded by reality”. That is how Ottawa is viewed by those living outside Ottawa.
Time and time again we see in Liberal budgets that the government reinforces that perception. By naming Ottawa I do not mean to slam the city. Ottawa is a beautiful city and I have come to appreciate it during my short time here. However I am speaking specifically about the sometimes unreal atmosphere in the Chamber and what parliament does under a majority Liberal government.
My colleague from Pictou--Antigonish--Guysborough identified some of those areas. Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on the gun registration scheme. We argued time and time again that the money could have been better spent in law enforcement.
Billions of dollars were funnelled through grants and contributions. The auditor general, following up on the good work of her predecessor, Auditor General Desautels, identified time and time again to the government and its predecessors that there were fatal flaws in how it administered those dollars. It seemed to shovel the money off the back of a truck as fast as it could.
If anyone dared to question the government, somehow the person was seen as attacking some specific individual who might be getting some benefit from the money some place in Canada.
When poor choices are made and big, bureaucratic, red tape programs are created, the benefits to a small number of people are small. The economy as a whole could be allowed to flourish and grow if the government got the heck out of trying to manage people's lives, create jobs and all this type of nonsense that seems to be the socialist mentality in the government.
I do not know whether it has too many New Democrats in its cabinet or what the status is but we have a real problem. A pro-business agenda has not been put forward over the last number of years by the government. Rather it has been tax and spend and not spend wisely.
Canadians do not mind being taxed. They are among the most heavily taxed people in the world. They accept that to a certain degree if they see money spent wisely. However time and time again the government has made poor choices.
I hear it all the time. I was on an open line radio show in Prince George yesterday. Judging by the phone calls that were coming in from out in the real world, people are not buying the nonsense that the government is trying to shovel about the budget. They know that there was nothing in there that would help put turkey on the table at Christmastime.