Mr. Speaker, it is true that a $3 billion cushion seems relatively small in respect to the kinds of deficits we are looking at this year, next year and going into the future. There is a reason that the deficit will be so large and that reason does not relate to the previous Liberal government.
As the member knows, the GST cuts brought in by the Conservative government will deprive the economy of $12 billion a year. That is $12 billion that could go into water infrastructure. That is $12 billion that could go into science and technology. That is $12 billion that could go into the arts, one of the country's biggest industries. It is a lot of money. I think that was an unwise decision by the government, but we are not voting on unwise decisions from previous budgets.