Madam Chair, I would like to start by addressing something in the question from the hon. member regarding the position that this government was left in by the previous government.
I note that in the House, on a month-by-month basis, members opposite bring up the “Fiscal Monitor”, and they do that for good reason. The “Fiscal Monitor” is the best way to understand the situation that we find ourselves in economically. We know the position we are in economically is a reflection of the measures and lack of measures put in by the previous government. Through its measures and lack of measures, we ended up with an economy that was not doing well, which led us to be in a deficit position for the fiscal year 2015-16.
I know that it is difficult for members opposite to acknowledge that the “Fiscal Monitor” is the correct barometer, but given their past behaviour, I should think that they would understand that the thing they have been talking about each month has now proved that we are, indeed, in a deficit in 2015-16, a deficit left to us by the previous government. There really is no other way to talk about it.
In terms of growth, our main focus is actually on Canadians of today and Canadians of tomorrow. We recognize that what we need to do is figure out how to grow the economy more rapidly. The last decade was the lowest-growth decade in Canada in the last eight decades. That is our starting point. We are going to do better for Canadians from here on in.