Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for what is truly an excellent question. It is the best question I have heard in a long time.
I might begin by giving the House some hot news. Just minutes ago the Governor of the Bank of Canada said, “--the global recession has intensified...since the Bank's January Monetary Policy Report Update”. I further quote, “--the recession in Canada will be deeper than anticipated--”.
My answer to the member's question is, yes of course, the Conservative government could have done more. My time is limited but I will give the member just one example.
Back in November of last year, when virtually all the industrial countries had already taken action to stimulate the economy and pumped billions into the economy, what did the Conservative government do? It came up with an economic update with negative fiscal stimulus, cuts in government spending, and other unrelated activities like attacking women's pay equity. The delay--