Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the member opposite on his diligence and hard work, and the successes that he has achieved in his 40 years since coming to Canada.
I am glad he is here in the House representing his constituents. He has highlighted for all of us the number of blessings that we have in this great country.
I was a little disappointed, though, to hear him use the word mismanagement when it comes to the fiscal record of this government. I would hope that he would not see the fact that we paid down $37 billion of national debt as mismanagement. He alludes to the plan of his party to pay down $3 billion per year. I am not a chartered accountant, but I do know that $37 billion over three budgets is somewhat in excess of $3 billion per year.
I would like to ask the member this question. Does he not feel that it is good financial management for this government to pay down debt? This is similar to a person who has a debt, perhaps a mortgage on his house, and who would try to reduce that debt. We are reducing the cost of the interest for future generations. For years and years that debt cost will be reduced by the fact that we have reduced our national debt by $37 billion.