Mr. Speaker, I will share my speaking time with my colleague from Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d'Orléans—Charlevoix.
The Liberals confirmed in the Speech from the Throne that they still believe in the old Keynesian theory that governments, this one in particular, can create wealth by spending more. However, when the government injects money into the economy, one has to ask where that money is coming from. We know it does not grow on trees.
The reality is that whenever the government takes another dollar from someone’s pocket, it is a dollar that person cannot spend or invest. When that happens, public spending increases and private spending decreases, and there is no creation of wealth.
Government borrowing does the same thing. Private investors who lend their money to the government will have less money to lend to private entrepreneurs. Now, as we all know, it is entrepreneurs who create wealth, and not government spending. Public sector and government borrowing and spending increase and, unfortunately, private sector borrowing decreases at the same time. There is no wealth creation.
It is like taking a pot of water from a swimming pool with deep water and pouring it into a swimming pool with shallow water; nothing is created. Prosperity does not happen when the government spends, but rather when entrepreneurs invest. That is how to restart the economy. We have to give entrepreneurs the means to create wealth.
To do so, the government must put in place the best possible conditions so that entrepreneurs and the private sector can become more productive. Unfortunately, that is not what the Liberal government is doing. It needs to lower the taxes on individuals and entrepreneurs, reduce the regulatory burden, promote free trade, and sign free trade agreements, as our government did in the past with more than 38 countries.
Growth and progress require more economic freedom and less state intervention in the everyday lives of Canadians. Increasing public spending is not the solution to our social and economic challenges. On the contrary, it could put us into a debt spiral from which we might not be able to escape.
I have a few questions for my Liberal colleagues.
What if the Liberal government's economic policy is deeply flawed and does not bring us prosperity?
What if more government borrowing and spending are not the answer to our economic challenges?
What if we wake up one day and realize that the deplorable state of Canada's finances is the predictable consequence of the current government's excessive borrowing and spending?
What if the Prime Minister is wrong when he believes that the more the government spends and the more it stimulates the economy, the more its revenue will grow and the less he needs to worry about the deficit?
What if the Prime Minister is completely wrong and the budget does not balance itself?
What if the finance minister is wrong and he also makes a huge mistake by thinking we can spend our way to prosperity?
What if Canadians are right when they believe that we do not get richer when we spend money that we do not have?
What if deficits do not create wealth but harm future generations?
What if prosperity does not come from government spending but rather from entrepreneurs investing?
What if more government spending and borrowing does not act as an economic stimulus but rather as an economic sedative?
What happens if my concerns are completely unfounded? Nothing.
However, what happens if my concerns are justified and right? Nothing good.