Madam Speaker, I listened intently to the 10-minute speech of my colleague from P.E.I., and he did not mention one new initiative. A whole new budget was brought in, but not one new initiative was mentioned. He mentioned child care, the lunch program, OAS and dental care, but not one new program.
I find it interesting that the government is creating a $78.5-billion deficit, which will be about $10 billion higher, but the member did not mention any new spending. Why we question the government's ability to budget is that the National Post this past weekend said that the PM's “plan to reduce civil service will cost $1.5 billion to cut payroll by just $82 million.” They are spending $1.5 billion to cut payroll by $82 million. How does that make sense?