Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today during this adjournment debate to address a very important issue, that is the government's inability to find the money to repay the huge debt that it is accumulating for future generations.
What does this have to do with the subject at hand? We are talking about the sale of airports. Why is the Liberal government interested in selling airports? The answer is clear: the Liberal government's credit card is maxed out and it needs money to pay the interest on its debt, which is increasing every day. Its miracle solution is to sell assets such as Canadian airports.
The Prime Minister recently said that the sale of airports was not part of his plan and that he has other things to worry about. There are concerns. We really have to start worrying when the Prime Minister says that something is not going to happen
I clearly remember all the promises made by the Liberal candidates in all the regions during the election campaign. They promised to run up a tiny deficit. However, less than a month later, we learned that the deficit would be twice as high. Then last December, the Department of Finance, which is not currently being run by the Conservatives, released an analysis of economic forecasting—I can barely say the word “economic” when I am talking about Liberal governments—regarding the government's finances.
That analysis revealed that a return to a balanced budget would not happen until 2050. During the election campaign, the Prime Minister repeated over and over that it would be balanced by 2019. Unfortunately, now it will be 2050. It is unbelievable. My children and grandchildren will be the ones to pay for this deficit. If the Liberals stay until 2019, it will be our great-great-great-grandchildren who will be paying for it, because the deficit will go on forever.
Now then, to try to ease the pain and improve the numbers once the election approaches and to please even more Canadians, the magic solution is to sell our airports. However, that is not a sure thing. When we asked the Minister of Transport if he really planned on selling the airports to pay the interest on the debt, he replied that the government was taking care of aviation safety and that passenger rights were his top priority. We did not get an answer. When we asked for a copy of the Credit Suisse study on the privatization of airports, we were told that we could not have it.
For all these reasons, this evening, I am proud to rise here and say that selling our airports is not a good idea. In fact, a Liberal senator agrees with me. I will have the opportunity to talk more about that in my reply to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport.