Mr. Speaker, I take that as a compliment.
I rise today to table a petition from Canadians who are alarmed by the Liberal government's manipulation of our national books. They are calling for honesty and integrity in fiscal reporting, and demanding an end to the practice of redefining “capital investments” to shrink the deficit on paper. Under this practice, subsidies, tax breaks and corporate handouts are rebranded as investments, even though the government will actually own nothing.
The petitioners warn that changing accounting rules when deficits are ballooning, the economy is slowing and fiscal anchors have already been abandoned is reckless and dangerous, because redefining the numbers does not build confidence and does not build our economy. A government that cannot live within its means will never be able to make life affordable for those who must live within theirs.
I thank the citizens who brought this forward.