Mr. Speaker, speaking truth to power is difficult at the best of times, but the Conservative government has created a special section in hell for those men and women in public life who have the temerity to be speak truth to power.
Kevin Page joins an ever-growing list of heroic parliamentary officers who have challenged the almighty Conservative propaganda machine. He has been the ultimate challenger to a fact-free government, pointing out inconvenient truths just as the machine is revving into high gear.
Unassuming and polite to a fault, the tax weary public has developed a fondness for his candour and evidence-based analysis. The more cabinet ministers attack him, the more he grows in public esteem. Whether it is the F-35, the Treasury Board cuts or every budget presented by the government, the PBO and Kevin Page have been more often right than wrong.
I do not know where the future will take Mr. Page, but he has set a very high bar in speaking truth to power, and we in the Liberal Party wish him well. Mr. Page, truth gets you heaven; untruth, the other place.