Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my colleague whether he agrees or disagrees with the large philosophical thrust of his party versus ours. I believe he would have to agree that the 12 years of fiscal management by the previous Liberal government were extremely well done. That led the country to its first series of surpluses and what I think is the longest series of surpluses ever seen in the history of our nation.
Would the member share with me a great concern over the competence of the current Conservative government in the case of the income trusts? Obviously he is not going to support the motion, but could he explain why he then would support a decision by the government to break a promise that has led to a record number of takeovers by large foreign corporations, mostly American? These are takeovers of some very important energy and other income trusts in this country.
At the same time, the Conservative government is proposing, although now it is backtracking, to eliminate the interest deductibility for loans for foreign investments. That too is going to compromise Canada's ability to really compete in the world and workers' ability to benefit from what is actually a growing world economy.