Mr. Speaker, members may think I have a lot of power in the House or that the 29 member group of New Democrats has a lot of power, but we did not defeat the Liberal Party on our own. As far as I know, people voted and Canadians defeated the Liberal government because they were just not happy with its record of achievement or non-achievement.
The Liberals felt so desperate on the eve of an election, and knowing that their leader had committed to one by the end of February of this year, that it drove them to suddenly go about this country frantically trying to sign deals even though they had not planned for them. Even though they did not book the numbers and had no commitment to actually keep those promises, based on their previous record of 13 years, does not make a case on their side. It certainly does not address the situation we are faced with today, which is in fact trying to convince the government to invest in those areas that give us the greatest bang for our buck.
Rather than this scattergun approach of tax credits, we should be taking that money and ensuring proper education so that students can get enter university or college without facing prohibitive tuition costs, so that our environment is protected and pollution does not go up, so that aboriginal people can have some sense that the government is working to close the gap between the rich and the poor, and so that working families can access quality child care. That is the challenge before us. That is why this debate is so important and why we oppose the Conservative budget.