Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to reflect the fact that the member for Kings—Hants started with selective reflections on the legacy of the previous Liberal government. He reflected on how it inherited a $43-billion deficit and turned it into a surplus.
I would like to remind the member, who seems to be exercising selective memory, that under the Mulroney government, the interest rates were at double digits. I had a mortgage at 16% in that era. Paying the public debt at that time, under those interest rates, was an extraordinary burden. It was the Mulroney government that actually took action by bringing in what was admittedly an unpopular tax, the GST, which brought in $35 billion in revenues, and negotiated free trade, which brought in hundreds of thousands of jobs. The Liberal contribution was to slash transfers to the provinces, including health care, putting the provinces in an unstable position.