Mr. Speaker, I seem to recall that the Prime Minister used stronger language when he was on the opposition benches, when we used to see this kind of thing from the Liberals.
The finance minister has broken the rules. He hired a friend of the Conservative Party to write a speech for $122,000. That is $2,000 a day, $22 a word. That is cold comfort to the people who are being thrown out of work across this country in forestry and manufacturing.
The Prime Minister now refuses to punish the minister for breaking the rules, so my question then is for the finance minister. Is his friend getting the contract for the 2008 budget?