Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully and somewhat disappointedly to the hon. member in his characterization of the budget.
I realize he has to read his speech prepared by the research branch of the Canadian Alliance Party. I realize he has to parrot the tax and spend phrase. I hope he is referring to the tax reduction, spend prudently and balance the budget Liberals, then I can buy into what he is saying.
The member suggests that the spending is way out of hand. The fact is that next year's growth projected by the private sector is 5%. The growth in government spending is 3%. That does not sound like spending going way out of control.
I will challenge the member on one item of accuracy, if the member will take note of this. In his own words he said that the EI premiums would only drop by 2¢ to $1.98. About 30 second later in his speech, he said that the current rate was $2.10. That is not a 2¢ drop. That is a 12¢ drop.
Let me take his figure of $8 per employee. If it is an $8 saving per employee, it is a $10 saving for the employer. Add the $10 and the $8 and it is $18 and that is multiplied by every working individual in the country. Let us say there are over 10 million workers. That is a $180 million saving. Is that not correct? Is he not misleading us a little in the way he is characterizing the budget?