Mr. Speaker, I remember the last election quite well when Thomas Mulcair, the then leader of the New Democratic Party, said that he was going to balance the budget at all costs. He might have received a lot of support from the Conservatives with that statement, but from my perspective, especially in the last couple of years, every time New Democratic Party members stand up, they are constantly saying to spend more. On the one hand the NDP members say to spend more and on the other hand the Conservatives say to spend less.
I am quite happy where we stand on this issue. I can tell my NDP friends who made the commitment to balance the budget at all costs that they are really selling short many of the investments this government has actually put in place, including everything from the Canada child benefit to investment in our veterans and our housing strategy. These are investments in Canadians, and are things we truly believe in, yet the NDP members say they would have balanced the budget at all costs, which I argue is highly irresponsible.