Mr. Speaker, I realize that the member who asked the question is a relatively new member. I have been here since 1993. I was elected largely on a fiscal platform, which was to balance the books and start paying back debt. What happened as a consequence of the Reform presence in the 1993 and 1997 Parliaments was that the finance minister of the time, our current Prime Minister, actually had the support to move where he moved. He would not have arrived there if he had cozied up to the NDP, the Bloc, his own backbench or even some of his cabinet members.
The Liberal government of today is very proud of balancing the books. Balancing the books is a responsibility. To not do so is irresponsible. It has only done the responsible thing. That is no excuse for being irresponsible today.
The member also talked about supporting the budget. Yes, the Conservatives supported the original budget. This is budget number two. We are not supporting budget number two because it is irresponsible. We voted on budget number one just the other day and we were consistent. We remain consistent. We are reliably prudent when it comes to fiscal matters.