Mr. Speaker, I wish this were the case. He says that the money invested in the surplus has produced savings in other areas, but it has not. We have tried the debt reduction tax cut route for the last number of years. There has been no boom for our economy. There has been no boost in productivity. There has been no lifting of people out of poverty.
What has happened is that money has gone into a deep, dark hole and has not allowed for us to have the double benefit of investing in Canadians and still bringing down the debt.
I hope the member will take heed of those economists who have empirical evidence showing that putting these available surplus dollars in terms of spending and investing in Canada will bring us to the same debt to GDP ratio, which his government wants, at the same time, maybe one year later.
Will he choose to put all that money against the debt or will he start to put some of that money toward housing, education, health care and all of the other needs in society?