Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his comments. However, it always amazes me when Liberals get up and talk about how they have reduced the debt. They never really tell us how they did it.
I want to remind the member of two things that the Liberals did that offended many Canadians. One was the EI surplus. The Auditor General said herself that it was into the $44 billion mark, but not to worry about it because the money was already gone. A good two-thirds of debt reduction came from the backs of workers and their employers.
The second was the superannuation surplus, which came from the public servants, our veterans, our armed forces personnel, anyone who worked for the public service. In 2000 there was a surplus in that fund. The Liberals took approximately $10 billion to $12 billion of that money and put it against the debt.
All together that is $54 billion. The member talked about a reduction of $61 billion. If only the Liberals would come clean and tell us exactly from where the debt reduction came. I have no question at all about the government having a plan to reduce the debt, getting the government back on its feet. There is no doubt that is a good thing.
The Liberals should be a little less disingenuous. They should tell us exactly where the $44 billion of the EI surplus money went and where the superannuation surplus went. I would be interested to hear the member's comments on that matter.