Mr. Speaker, instead of defending his record, the Prime Minister states falsehoods about our record.
There were two Conservative budgets prior to the great global recession. Let us look at those budgets.
In 2006, according to the public accounts, there was a $13.8-billion surplus. In 2007, delivered again by Jim Flaherty, there was a $9.6-billion surplus. The Conservatives did the responsible thing and paid off debt to cushion us against the hard times that were to come. That is why we had the strongest response to the great global recession.
Why did he spend the cupboard bare in the good times and leave us so weak and vulnerable now, in the hard times?