Mr. Speaker, as I said in my last question, I am sure that people watching this debate on TV are thinking that this is a very bizarre situation we are dealing with in the House of Commons today.
The federal government, led by the Minister of Finance, has made a full frontal attack on the province of Ontario and the workers, families and people who live in that province. The premier has been called the small man of Confederation. The Minister of Finance has stated publicly that the province of Ontario should be the last province in which a person would look to invest.
I pointed out previously in my question the history of the Conservative Party in dealing with debt. There are younger members who do not recall the situation that we went through back in 1993. The annual deficit was $43 billion, and that was annual, not accumulated. Interest rates were in the 11% to 12% range. Unemployment was over 10%. The debt to GDP ratio was 73%. The World Bank had an active file on this country. In other words, we were probably minutes from bankruptcy.
The right monetary and fiscal policy was implemented and thankfully, things were turned around. I am not going to go over the statistics on that particular issue, but another thing happened too, when the present Minister of Finance became the minister of finance for the province of Ontario. His government left an annual deficit of $5.6 billion.
We are all left asking ourselves, what policies, programs and initiatives led to the Conservative Government of Canada having an annual deficit of $43 billion? What policies, programs and initiatives led to the province of Ontario having an annual deficit of $5.6 billion? Does anyone in this assembly or in Canada know the answer to those particular questions?
It was an unfortunate time for the people living in Canada back in 1993. I recall it vividly. It was an unfortunate time for the people living in Ontario at the end of the Michael Harris Conservative government era. Thankfully, that has been corrected also, so we do have a new era in this province, but we have this crazy attack by the federal government on the province of Ontario.
Everyone I talk to just shakes his or her head and asks what is going on in Ottawa. Why is the government doing that? What is it attempting to accomplish by attacking one of the provinces? People are asking, would it not be interesting if the Minister of Finance and the government House leader went to the province of Quebec and attempted a similar attack in that province? Would it not be interesting if the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, accompanied by the government House leader, went to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and attacked Premier Williams on that basis? Would it not be interesting if those parties went to the province of British Columbia and had a similar attack?
It is going on right here in Ottawa against the province of Ontario. I and a lot of people in this House, and a lot of people right across the country of Canada, are just shaking our heads, some in amusement, some in shock, and a lot in disappointment. It is certainly not the work of this House. We are just puzzled. I listened to the debate all day and I am trying to get some semblance of why this is going on. What is the purpose of it? What is behind it? What are we trying to accomplish by this attack on the people who live in the province of Ontario?
I listened to every word and all we are getting is a bunch of statistics that really do not go to why this is going on. I am still shaking my head as to why the government is attempting to do this.
A situation that I find equally bizarre is that not one Conservative member of Parliament elected by the people of Ontario will get up in this House and disassociate in any way with the remarks coming from the government House leader and the Minister of Finance. They are just given a bunch of statistics and prepared documents to read. The people watching this on TV, especially the people of Ontario, are saying, “Maybe the member is standing up for Canada, but we in this riding elected that member to go to Ottawa to represent us, to represent our interests, our businesses, our families, our workers. We did not send the member to Ottawa to read speeches prepared by the office of the Prime Minister”.
If there are any Conservative members of Parliament from Ontario in this House, they should take the last few minutes of the debate to clarify their position. They should tell the people they represent that they do not associate in any way, shape or manner with those comments from the Minister of Finance, who I pointed out is a member of Parliament from the province of Ontario. Members should take this opportunity to disassociate themselves because people are shaking their heads.
I submit that the House collectively and the government are not working in the best interests of the people who live and work in this province.
I am thankful to have participated in this debate. As I said, I do not live in Ontario, but I am shaking my head as to the nature of the attack that has been going on over the last four or five weeks. I am wondering when this attack is going to stop, or if it is going to continue. I hope for the sake of this House and for the sake of the people who live in Canada and Ontario that the attack stops today.