Mr. Speaker, it is always interesting to hear my colleague, the minister, defend his point of view so fervently and passionately. Obviously, everyone knows he is a man of great talent and ambition, with many fine qualities. I will give him credit for that, but not for anything else.
He said repeatedly that he does not want to play politics on the backs of families, workers and Quebeckers, yet that is exactly what he did. Throughout his speech, he kept giving the impression that Conservatives want to kill jobs in Quebec. That is completely false, and he knows it.
Let me refresh his memory, while also speaking to the 1,600 workers in Shawinigan. On January 22, 2019, regarding the CRA employees, the Leader of the Opposition, the prime minister in waiting, the man we really hope becomes the next prime minister, made it very clear that eliminating public service jobs is out of the question for us, that these employees are going to tackle tax evasion, which is even better for taxpayers, and that we need these public servants to ensure compliance with federal laws.
That is what the Conservative Party leader said during our announcement two and a half weeks ago on January 22. The minister knows that and implied that he did not say those things. Why the political hypocrisy?