Mr. Speaker, I have a question for my colleague.
I read a number of articles this morning. The Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors published a report last week saying that with the price of gas these days, more than 23,000 jobs will be lost in the coming months wherever oil is extracted—mostly in Alberta, but also in the Atlantic provinces. The Parliamentary Budget Officer said today that, unfortunately, the government cannot hide from this and will have to run a deficit.
I would like to know what my colleague's plan is for the 23,000 jobs that the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors says we are going to lose. Unfortunately, try as they might to hide from this for as long as possible, the Conservatives will have to declare a deficit, perhaps in April or May. What is their plan? They say that the Liberals and the NDP criticize the government and that they are on the same page on this, but what are the Conservatives going to do for the people who are going to lose their jobs in the coming months? What are they going to do about the deficit they will be forced to declare in the coming months?