Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question. On this, the Conservatives and the Bloc can come to an understanding.
The Bloc proposed a reduction in federal government operating expenditures over three years, representing $15 billion. I passed this proposal on to the Minister of Finance.
I think the Conservatives will agree with us. We noted that operating expenditures increased on average by 8% annually in the past seven years, I believe. I am not referring to either programs or transfers to individuals or the provinces, but to bureaucracy and computers. The figure, then, is 8%. We think it is too high. There is a recommendation to reduce the spending growth rate.
Without cutting any program—especially not like what was done on September 25—without laying off anyone, only through attrition, hiring people, but at a more reasonable rate, by cutting certain outsourced professional services that could be provided by the public service, we think that, in three years, some $15 billion could be saved.
In the most recent election, I saw that the Conservative platform proposed freeing up some $22 billion in five years. In terms of reducing operating costs, it is perhaps not such an undertaking to come up with the manoeuvring room to resolve the fiscal imbalance. Still I would remind the member that, last year, the federal government had a surplus of $13 billion and will this year have some $6 billion or $7 billion in surplus.
Therefore, by reducing operating expenditures and using the flexibility the surplus gives us, there is plenty of room to resolve the fiscal imbalance problem once and for all.