Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from the Conservative Party of Canada for his excellent speech. I, like him, share the outrage of the people of Newfoundland at their cavalier treatment in connection with the election promises made by the Prime Minister. I do not know what is going on with this government, but in recent days it has shown considerable insensitivity to the regions of Canada. We share our colleague's frustrations.
I have heard what the parliamentary secretary has had to say, listing every defect in the world that the Bloc Québécois and Parti Québecois could possibly have, and coming out with a pack of falsehoods. I do not know if that is the standard approach of that party, to try to convince the public through falsehoods, but I think this time they have gone a bit too far.
According to him, the Liberal Party in Quebec took over the finances of Quebec when they were in a lamentable deficit state. When the Quebec Liberal Party, Mr. Charest's party, came to Quebec City, the Parti Québecois had already set Quebec's finances straight, and there was a balanced budget. When the Parti Québecois came to power in 1994, after the Liberals had been in government for two mandates, the deficit was $5 billion, so that deficit was in fact a legacy of the Quebec Liberal Party.
So the situation is the exact opposite of what he says. It would be a good idea to get the facts straight before coming out with just anything, or with out and out lies.
Speaking of good management, I would like to ask a question of my Conservative colleague. The Liberal Party boasts of its good management of public funds. If we look at the figures for the last five years, there has been a 39% increase in operating expenses, the whole sponsorship business and other things. Does he share the opinion of the secretary of state and the member for Outremont? The latter has just spoken about good management, but his approach was a bit rusty. He has been out of politics a bit too long. He also took a wrong approach altogether, and that too is the standard Liberal approach.
I would like to hear what my honourable colleague has to say about this.