Mr. Speaker, I am not surprised to hear the doom and gloom from the NDP. Again the NDP is trying to educate the public by saying that on the national infrastructure program somehow we have not fulfilled our obligations, that somehow we have not done the job.
I do not know if that member has spent any time in municipal politics. I spent 12 years in municipal politics and, as president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, I can tell him that there would not be a national infrastructure program today; there would not be a 10 year program; there would not be a strategic infrastructure fund; there would not be the relationship on climate that we have, the 20% club, with the FCM and cities across the country; and there would not be the investment in cities, in colleges and in universities had this government not come to power to deal with those issues.
How do I know that? I know that because I was with the FCM in the days when the Tories were in power and the Tories, of course, never paid any attention to cities. They, like the NDP, are johnny-come-latelies to this issue.
The member said that we were not doing anything about student loans. I beg to differ. I would suggest that putting more money in the hands of students is part of this budget. I would point out that I agree with him on the issue of rising tuition fees. Unfortunately, that is provincial, not federal. Putting more money in the hands of students and merit based scholarships are part of this budget. Broadening the eligibility for debt reduction and a repayment program are part of this budget.
We were listening to those stakeholders, which is very important. I would have at least liked the member to have acknowledged some of the work we did, particularly on the national child benefit, improving the situation for poor and low income families in the country.
Yes, there is more we can do. There is always more we can do but from the left we hear we are not spending enough and from the right we hear that we are spending too much. I would rather be a Liberal and be in the middle and be able to say, no deficit, cut down on the debt, reduce taxes and invest in health care and social programs. I think that is what it is all about.
I would ask the hon. member to at least acknowledge the fact that we could do a lot more by working together. Maybe he does not think we score a 10 out of 10 on one item or another item but he could at least acknowledge what we have done. Surely the role of the opposition is to be constructive. All I ever hear on the budget is negativity. My good friends across the way will get up and tell me that we are just spending too much money. However the fact is that we are making responsible investments. I ask the hon. member to comment.