Madam Speaker, it is amazing to hear the Conservatives talk about deficits when Brian Mulroney left a deficit of $42 billion when he left the government. What the government said was that it was the fault of the previous government. They are blaming Sir John A. Macdonald and it was Wilfrid Laurier's fault.
The current Prime Minister, when he was minister of finance, did not blame the previous governments. He rolled up his sleeves, got down to business and we have had eight straight balanced budgets in the country. That is the first time it has happened since Confederation.
As the House knows, all of the G-7 countries, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, have deficits. Canada is the only G-7 country that has a balanced budget. When the member's Conservative government left in 1993, it took 36ยข on the dollar, not to pay for health care, good roads or anything else, but to pay the interest on the debt costs alone after Brian Mulroney's economic mismanagement of the country.
I know the members opposite in the Reform Party were upset with Brian Mulroney, which is why they started the Reform Party. I know most of the members over there are from the Reform Party but could someone please tell me why the last Conservative government in the country left us with a $42 billion debt? That record is a disgrace.