Mr. Speaker, first, concepts like gas tax transfers, making them permanent, and money for infrastructure for communities and cities are all Liberal concepts. The government is operating within the framework of Liberal ideas because it has no ideas of its own. As the Globe and Mail has said, the policy cupboard is bare.
The budget is like a rickety old gas guzzler stalled by the side of the road. A person slows down to see if he or she can help but realizes it is hopeless. Besides that, the driver is absent, so the individual moves on. At most, the person notifies the authorities that there is a nuisance by the side of the road.
The opposition will bring the government down on an issue on which Canadians want us to bring it down. He can count on that.
If the Conservatives continue with meaningless budgets like this, as we move to serious and difficult economic times, the next time they produce an economic statement or something that they try to pass off as a budget, the Conservative government will not see the next morning.