Mr. Speaker, today Canadians will receive the federal budget with a certain degree of disappointment. Two months ago the finance minister proudly boasted that the Conservative government had paid off $37 billion of federal debt. Yet, within a matter of weeks, the same finance minister suddenly tells a different story.
Instead of a surplus, the Conservatives will run a massive $64 billion deficit over two years. This effectively wipes out any Conservative progress on reducing the federal debt. How can Canadians have confidence in the government when the Conservatives took over a $13 billion surplus from the Liberals in 2005 and simply blew it? Why should Canadians trust the Conservatives to weather this recession when they could not manage in a healthy economy?
I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, that my colleagues and I in the Liberal caucus will assess this budget very carefully to ensure that it is in the best interests of Canadians.