Mr. Speaker, I am proud to answer that question from someone who indeed is a friend. We were all very happy to see him get through a difficult personal challenge with his health and return to the last Parliament and then get re-elected. I have a lot of time for the member and, as I said, nicknames are often terms of endearment. It is because we like Liberals that at the end of the day the tax-and-spend nickname is a nickname, but my goodness, with Bill C-2 they are confirming tax-and-spend as their strategy.
When it comes to the global recession of 2008-09, out of which Canada led the G7 in job growth and recovery, certainly we did run deficits. No one has hidden that at all, but we set a course to balance the books by fiscal year 2014-15, which takes decisions. As I said, leadership is not about always saying yes. Tony Blair was famous for saying that leadership is at times about saying no. My father who was a provincial member at Queen's Park coined that phrase long before Tony Blair, that sometimes it means saying no and saying why by setting priorities.
I hope with subsequent bills that come before this place that my friend and my friends will bring forward a plan that is more than just taxing Canadians, more than just reducing their ability to save for retirement. We need a vision that includes resources, that includes new Canadians, that includes a diverse economy to make sure that Canada stays on top.