Mr. Speaker, I must say that I am quite amused, a little astounded perhaps, that the member opposite would raise the issue of the eco-energy program for homes, which the NDP has voted against consistently. It keeps voting against it, and then when it completed its mission, the NDP criticized it for not being extended. In fact, almost $1 billion was invested in this program and many millions of Canadian families have benefited from it. It has been a success.
It was always intended to be a limited program. Unfortunately, the NDP voted against it, and I guess it is sorry that it did.
We have no intention of introducing a $22 billion carbon tax. The United States government does not intend to do it either, contrary to what the member opposite has said.
Our government is interested in keeping taxes low and generating employment for Canadians. We are not in the business of increasing the deficit.
The deficit resulted from an international financial crisis, and the NDP was right there, asking us to spend much more. Had we done that, the deficit would have been considerably higher right now, and we would have had to take draconian steps to cut social services.