Mr. Speaker, I simply disagree with what has just been said by the parliamentary secretary. It is simply not true. The government could have put it on the order paper, but chose not to.
We had the incredible spectacle last Friday, when the government moved to make this a life and death emergency two minutes before the expiration of private members' business. It is incredible that on a Friday afternoon the Conservatives would pull such a despicable conjuring trick to try to get their budget through.
The real reason for the closure today is that we have seen reaction from across the country to the budget. We have seen the reaction to the betrayal of the Atlantic accord. We have seen the reaction everywhere, except within the Conservative caucus, to the betrayal of Saskatchewan and the Conservative members from Saskatchewan who are not speaking up for Saskatchewan.
We are seeing the reaction from British Columbians who have been betrayed on the lack of funding for flooding, the betrayal on the leaky condo promise, and the lack of action on the pine beetle
We are seeing in this budget a critical mass now of Canadians simply saying the budget is wrong. It should be rejected. That is why the government is moving to impose closure today. It is for that reason, simply because the government knows it no longer has credibility with the budget. That is the reason.