Mr. Speaker, one thing that drives me moderately up the wall is declarations on the Canadian dollar by that well known economic guru, the Leader of the Opposition.
The quickest way to get a 50 cent dollar would be a return to the huge deficits the Alliance was calling for during the last election campaign.
On the other hand, if a stronger dollar is what we want, the only thing that can be done in the short term is to raise interest rates, and that would be the worst possible thing to do.
I have two suggestions for the Leader of the Opposition. First, he should do what good little right wing parties do and trust the markets to determine the value of the Canadian dollar, given that this is a time of U.S. dollar strength rather than Canadian dollar weakness.
Second, at this time of economic turbulence he should stop trashing the Canadian economy on the floor of the House of Commons.