Mr. Speaker, the hon. member accuses the former Conservative government of wanting to balance the budget at all costs. He is part of a government that is determined to run a deficit at all costs and that has exerted extraordinary effort to achieve it.
What is the result? There are fewer jobs. Where are the jobs this deficit was supposed to buy? We have 6,000 fewer people working today in full-time work than when the Prime Minister took office.
He talked about the middle class. He said they inherited a terrible situation for the middle class. Actually, under the previous Conservative government, medium incomes were worth more than under the previous six governments combined. Where did I get that fact? It is in the very first chart of the very first Liberal budget. I encourage him to read that chart.