Madam Speaker, I listened intently to the speech by the member for York North. I paid particular attention to her reference to there being no need to balance the books; that was not part of what she thought was important. At least I give her credit. It is a return to the Liberal roots that we have seen for 30 years that put the country in such a difficult position to begin with.
I have two questions for her. Does she not recognize that accumulated deficits which now make our national debt on the federal side $536 billion mean that about 23% of every tax dollar Canadians send to Ottawa goes to pay the interest? In fact, last year it was $36 billion. Does she not recognize that is a huge problem for Canadians and there is a huge danger that we are going to go there again?
Since the Liberals have been in power, from 1993-94 to 1996-97 spending actually declined by 3.8% or $13.3 billion. In phase two, 1996-97 to 1999-2000, spending increased by $6.8 billion or 6.7%. In phase three, the one we are in right now, the spending spree, 1999-2000 to 2004-05, the timeframe the finance minister introduced in his budget, spending is increasing by $40 billion, or 37%, during this period of time.
I have to ask the member for York North if she believes that this kind of spending level is sustainable. After all, if population growth and inflation were taken into account as a formula for how much spending should increase, that would be roughly 2% to 2.5% a year. Here we have spending levels in excess of 7% to 8% under the current government. Does she believe they are sustainable at that level?