Mr. Speaker, although my colleague's speech was very interesting and very good, I would like to address two things that she said.
First, she mentioned that old refrain from the election campaign, specifically “think big, be Canadian”. In other words, Canada has to be “big”. The President of the United States is a bad guy, and the situation is urgent.
Then my colleague regurgitated all the old measures that were in the budget presented six months ago by the minister who replaced the former finance minister, who resigned because the previous budget was so bad.
We keep hearing how serious the situation is. It was pretty obvious in question period today that the Minister of Finance has no interest in drafting a budget. He is interested in one thing: making announcements. When he is asked if there will be a budget, he replies that an announcement will be made in such and such a riding. The Minister of Finance is not interested in public finances. He is interested in making announcements. My colleague said in her speech that the government has made some great announcements. A government needs a budget to govern.
Does my colleague believe that her government should present a budget this spring, as any responsible government would do?