Mr. Speaker, taxpayers should be worried about the award given to the Minister of Finance by Euromoney magazine.
In fact, that same magazine gave its 2005 award for excellence—best investment bank to Lehman Brothers. I would remind the House that that financial institution was one of the main actors behind the subprime mortgage problems that led to the worst economic crisis since the second world war. Just ask its shareholders.
This was the minister who, in the fall of 2008, refused to acknowledge the looming financial crisis and made lots of rosy predictions, claiming that he could still maintain a balanced budget. It was also this minister who underestimated the size of the deficit by 50%, once he finally admitted there would be a deficit.
I would advise the Minister of Finance and Euromoney—rather than boasting about this award—to try out for the Just for Laughs festival.