Mr. Speaker, maybe the hon. member nodded off at some time during my speech because I did say that the economy was important. I did say the government had a responsibility to ensure that the economy was strong, but not on a short-term basis. It is like, as a physician, my patient walking in and me not really caring about the long-term survival of the patient, but putting on a Band-Aid and saying “look, the bleeding has stopped, everything is fine” and sending the patient home. That is not how we deal with problems. They have to be thought out because the economy will suffer in the long run.
In the House of Commons on May 29th, 2012. See this statement in context.