Mr. Speaker, how ironic of the parliamentary secretary to say such a thing when this afternoon, just a few hours ago, the Prime Minister himself said that his next budget would include tax hikes. He has the nerve to try to make someone else the messenger. We are not the ones who said it. The Prime Minister is the one who said it.
The fact is that we are in the middle of an economic crisis. Who should we be helping during this economic crisis? We should be helping our workers, the people who need help supporting their families.
My specific question was based on the President of the Treasury Board's answer about the economic action plan. Why did the Conservatives make those announcements two months ago when they cannot even give municipalities the contracts so that they can create jobs right away? If the government had done its job two months ago, perhaps even two years ago, infrastructure programs would be putting people to work right now on construction sites in cities and towns.
Why are they waiting? What are they waiting for? Are they waiting for more people to be out of work? Are they waiting for more struggling people to kneel before them and beg for help, for work? Why wait so long? Why mislead the people?