Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Before I begin my intervention, I want to recognize the life of Albert “Bert” Malfair. He was a father to a young woman I went to school with. He bravely served the RCMP to the point where he was chasing robbery suspects and was ultimately disabled from that in 1984. We are grateful for him. He recently passed away, and I pass my condolences to his family. May perpetual light shine upon him.
When my colleague gave his speech, he just so casually threw around the number of a $40-billion deficit. It has gotten that bad. That was a government that said it would have modest deficits and the budget would balance itself, and what has it done? It has spent, spent, spent. What do Canadians have to show for it? They have nothing. They are now struggling even more with heating and eating.
How does the member say these numbers so casually, $40 billion, $50 billion, $60 billion? We are spending more now on servicing the debt than we are on health care.