Mr. Speaker, I would never accuse the member of trying to mislead the House, but I will understand if he has trouble understanding or recognizing true economic circumstances.
When we were operating at $42 billion deficits a year and building our national debt, and increasing the amount of money being taken away from the country in interest every year, we were going in the wrong direction and our ability to deliver social programs was leaving. That is why the Liberal government had to tackle the deficit. It brought the country into a surplus situation, reduced the debt, and left this country in the best financial position it has been in since Confederation.