Mr. Speaker, the member ought to read the budget. If he were to actually study the figures, he would see that from 2005-06, when our government came to office, to 2008-09 spending growth would average 4.1%, almost a full percentage point below the projected rate of economic growth in that period. That is substantially below the rate of growth under the Liberals, when the average spending was over 8% per year and in the final years of their mandate was 15%. We have brought that down to 4.1%.
Setting aside the cost to restore fiscal balance, which was a one-time cost which we promised in the election, tax cuts established since budget 2006 are more than twice as much as spending measures in the budget. I know that the member will be happy about that and that his concern has been well met.
With respect to low income Canadians, we have done so much for low income Canadians, again something that the member either missed or chooses to ignore because he is following his leader's directive to go out and trash the budget for partisan purposes instead of giving the facts to Canadians.
In fact, we have a new working income tax benefit for the working poor. He knows that. We have a new $2,000 child tax credit for the poorest Canadians. He knows that. We have reduced the GST, which is the only tax that lowest income Canadians pay. He is aware of that.
This past budget and this budget takes three-quarters of a million Canadians completely off the tax rolls because they will be paying less tax under our measure. He is aware of that as well.
I would suggest that the facts do not square with the trumped up concerns that the member tries to bring forward. This is a good budget for Canada. It is a good budget for Canadians. It is a good budget for every Canadian.