Mr. Speaker, this is more amusing than anything else, sadly amusing really.
Here we have a government that inherited probably the strongest fiscal situation in the G7 and in two years it has been able to run a $13 billion surplus into a $6 billion deficit. It is a talent but not much of a talent. I doubt it would be considered to be much of a talent outside these four walls. Not only did the Conservatives run it into a $6 billion deficit, they refused to tell anybody that they were in fact in deficit.
During the election it was see no evil, hear no evil and smell no evil. The Conservatives said, “Of course we are not in deficit; we could not possibly be in deficit, and by the way, do not invest in Ontario”. Unfortunately some people took their advice and did not invest in Ontario and have not invested in the economy.
We have had three quarters of negative economic growth and our economy is teetering, but it did not have to be that way. If the Conservatives had listened to the advice of the Liberal Party of Canada they would not be in this mess. The Conservatives are in a mess and it is one of their own creation. If they do not believe me, they can believe the Parliamentary Budget Officer.