Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to speak in the context of this debate, and I will let the House know right away that I plan to share my time with my colleague from Red Deer—Lacombe.
Why are we gathered here this evening? We are talking about the implementation of the budget, specifically the infrastructure file. I really need to set the record straight on some things that my government colleagues just said, which were not quite true. When people say that the Conservatives ignored infrastructure investment, that is false. Never in Canada's history has a government been so dedicated to investing in infrastructure as ours was.
The final budget introduced under the right hon. member for Calgary Heritage included over $80 billion in investments. The difference is that we did it with a balanced budget. That adjective is missing from the Canadian Liberal dictionary. Balanced budgets no longer exist. That is the defining feature of this government, its management, and its administration. Unfortunately, our children and grandchildren will pay for this extravagance. They will pay for the Liberals' bad management.
It is also important to point out that we think investments are important, and when it comes to infrastructure, those investments need to be made under a minister. I hear the opposition members saying that there was no infrastructure minister back in the day. That is false. That is not true. The hon. member for Lac-Saint-Jean was responsible for economic development for the Quebec regions, among others. He was the one who allocated the sums available to Quebec. Need I remind the House that those investments in Quebec are made based on recommendations from the provincial government? We worked in partnership with the provincial government and the municipalities, and we made huge investments.
A picture is worth a thousand words. When it comes to managing public funds, the current government is unfortunately demonstrating just how ugly mismanagement can get. This begins first and foremost with the minister's own office. The current Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, who is responsible for spending the billions of dollars entrusted to him appropriately, is going about it all wrong in his own ministerial office. This speaks volumes about his ability to manage money. When he is incapable of managing even his own office properly, imagine how how poorly he will manage the rest of the money that has been entrusted to him.
The fact that he spent $800,000 to set up his office is indecent and unacceptable. Anyone who did that in the private sector, anyone who would sign off on spending $800,000 for their own office, would be immediately shown the door. I do not know what the cost of the door would be, but we could save a lot of money there, that is for sure.
That is why I was very happy to hear the speeches given by our colleagues, particularly the member for Mégantic—L'Érable, who gave a humourous yet woefully accurate description of the reality and this government's lack of vision.
The member for Mégantic—L'Érable went to what I would go so far as to call absurd lengths to show how someone could equip an office for $10,000 rather than $800,000, which is what the others spent. The minister could have gotten everything he needed for 30 people in his office for $10,000 and that would have been that, but no, this spendthrift government that is in party mode is spending money it does not have. This government has absolutely no vision when it comes to the proud and careful management of public funds, which is something that a government should have. The fact that this government spent almost a million dollars on an office is completely unacceptable.
Should we be surprised that a senior minister who is responsible for spending and carefully monitoring the billions of dollars entrusted to him spent $800,000 on his private office? No, that comes as no surprise because that is this government's signature. This government spends recklessly. This government has completely lost its mind and lost control over public spending. This government said one thing during the election campaign and has been doing the opposite ever since it took office.
Look no further than the budget and the astronomical deficits that this sad government has announced. Let us remember that during the election campaign, the current Prime Minister travelled all over Canada telling people that his party was going to run only small deficits.
He said that it was a tiny deficit of $10 billion, nothing more, nothing less. He said that it would be only $10 billion and that three years from now, everything would be set. There would just be three difficult years of $10 billion, and after that, we would get back on track.
That is all wrong. For the first year, it is $30 billion. That is the reality. That is the signature of the Liberal government.
The government announced a small $10-billion deficit, but the deficit will actually be $30 billion. Now we see how the Liberals can afford to spend $800,000 on an office. They are living beyond their means, but there is nothing there.
My colleague from Shawinigan keeps saying that we need to put money back in people's pockets. During the election campaign, the Liberals said that their tax changes would not cost anything. In reality, the deficit for the tax changes alone is $1.7 billion.
The Liberals said that they needed to give money back to families, as though we had done nothing. Does the UCCB not ring a bell? They do not seem to remember that last summer, Canadian families had access to the universal child care benefit. That was money for families. It was our program, and it was managed in a balanced way.
Now, the Liberals say that they want to give more money to parents for their children, in a balanced way. We end up with a $1.4-billion deficit. That is what we get under Liberal management. The Liberals say that this will be done in a balanced way, but what we are seeing is the complete opposite.
That is why we have a minister who is responsible for spending billions of dollars but ends up spending $800,000 on his office. The Liberals have completely lost control of government spending. They are living beyond their means, but so what.
Some of my colleagues opposite are looking at me sideways. I want to remind them that spending $800,000 on an office is not acceptable. The minister could have followed the lead of the current Minister of Finance, who set up a new office for $1,400. That is pretty good.
It is true that the Minister of Finance had just been appointed and that, in a previous life, he was an experienced businessman who knew how to manage things properly. Unfortunately, he lost control of public finances. Members will recall that he wrote a very interesting book about the sound management of public funds entitled The Real Retirement: Why You Could Be Better Off Than You Think, and How to Make That Happen.
As an experienced businessman, he said in this book that it was an excellent idea to increase the retirement age to 67, among other things. That is unfortunate. Now that he is a Liberal minister, he is rolling back the retirement age to 65. That is the kind of Liberal management that is leading us into a black hole. It is not the right thing to do.
Last week in Quebec City, the Minister of Families, a member from Quebec, was proud to announce a $10-million investment in the Diamant project.
Do not get me wrong. We have nothing against the Diamant project, but the point is this: Where was it in the campaign?
During the election campaign, the Liberals did not say anything about a $10-million investment in that project. That is a fact.
However, although they are investing $10 million in a project that they did not commit to, they scrapped the funding promised to the INO and the amount that should have gone to the Institut nordique du Québec. Furthermore, they have completely turned their backs on the Quebec Bridge file.
The Liberals make big announcements, boast about their fine principles, and say that they are proud to invest $10 million in culture in Quebec City. I have nothing against that, but once again, they need to have the means to pay for it. Can they assume their responsibilities and keep the election promises they have broken? They need to be careful.
When I became a member of Parliament, there was a lot of equipment in my riding office. I took only what I needed and donated the rest to charitable organizations in my riding.
If I had known that the Liberals were about to spend $800,000, I would have asked the minister to come to my riding office and take whatever he needed. That would not have cost anything. However, the government has decided to live beyond its means. That is unacceptable.