Well, Mr. Speaker, it was never in this printed copy which is the first copy. The member says it was never in there. The fact is, it was in the speech yesterday. It is in the book. It was written about by all of the editorialists.
It is fascinating that the Conservatives put it in and now it has been taken out. Why has it been taken out? Because it has nothing to do with addressing the economic challenges that our country is facing. It was a political stunt.
We did not even talk about that yesterday. When we were in this place, when we asked questions and gave speeches, we were talking about the principal issue and that is that the economic statement and the commitments of the government basically said, “Do not even consider it. We are not having any economic stimulus until, at the earliest, the budget next year”. Why? Because the government wants to wait and see if people really need help.
Do we wait until people lose their jobs before providing an economic stimulus to save them? Is that the way it works? I am sorry. Every major industrialized country in the world facing the same challenges has brought forward immediately a significant economic stimulus package to protect jobs, to protect pensions, to protect the savings of its citizens and to give them hope. The government gave Canadians no hope yesterday. The government gave them no prospects of any relief whatsoever. They were told to fend for themselves, keep what they have and not to depend on the government, that the government has no role to play in the lives of people.
We know what is going to happen. We have been through economic downturns before. We know what happens when people lose their jobs and when interest rates skyrocket. We know what happens when inflation gets out of control. People lose jobs. There is a ripple effect on businesses, individuals, families, crime rates, health care costs and social program costs. Pick the subject matter. It is impacted by an economic downturn, by a crisis.
We have a crisis. The government is in denial. The government is delaying. It is deceiving Canadians. It is time to stand up and call it what it is. It is misleading, it is misinforming and it is doing a disservice to Canadians and to the country. Regardless of whether the Conservatives have wording on political funding in the economic statement, that was never the issue. We need to put the interests of the people ahead of political interests.
Mr. Speaker, we will oppose this economic statement.