Budget Implementation Act, 2004  Mr. Speaker, I just listened to that answer and I still do not understand it. I suspect it is really a non-answer. I heard the hon. member talk about balance. I am looking at where tax dollars went in 2002-03. What would the hon. member cut? Major transfers to persons is about $40.2 billion.

Budget Implementation Act, 2004  Mr. Speaker, I too want to add my compliments to the hon. member. I acknowledge that on this side of the House her contributions were not always appreciated. There may have been a bit of muttering under one's breath. However the hon. member has added to the political discourse over the years that she has been here in a unique and sometimes humourous style.

Budget Implementation Act, 2004  Mr. Speaker, there might be a chance that we are going to find that out. I am always amused that the opposition likes to major on minors. The first question following the implementation of the budget bill had absolutely nothing to do with the budget. The members opposite must think that the budget is so good that they have been reluctant to ask questions about it.

Budget Implementation Act, 2004  Mr. Speaker, I have been personally seized with this issue pretty well since I got here. It arises by virtue of the fact that in my riding we have 23 motel units, 11 of which are used by the City of Toronto to shelter families. It is a disgrace. It is awful that we have something like 1,400 homeless people in our riding on a nightly basis.

Budget Implementation Act, 2004  Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member looked a little closer at the proposals on equalization, he would find that there is some redress to the concern that he expressed. The first point I want to make on equalization is that it is not a panacea for everything. Equalization simply is an averaging of fiscal capacities among the provinces.

Budget Implementation Act, 2004  Because hon. members opposite have memory loss from time to time. This will bring our commitment to health care renewal to $36.8 billion. In the context of announcing that, the Prime Minister reiterated that he would like to meet with the provincial premiers in the summer to work out how health care will be sustainable over the short, medium and long term.

Budget Implementation Act, 2004  Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to lead off this debate. Before discussing Bill C-30, I want to briefly review the focus of the budget which was just presented. As hon. colleagues know, the 2004 budget takes an integrated approach to social and economic policy while emphasizing the bedrock commitment to financial integrity.

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Sackville—Musquodoboit Valley—Eastern Shore for bringing the proposals to our attention. I know the hon. member and I like him very much. In the years that I have been here I have known him to be an enthusiastic amateur soccer player. He has helped us all get organized in terms of playing a few games of soccer, particularly with the pages.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, the government has set as a target that in the next 10 years the debt to GDP ratio will be 25%. That has gone from somewhere in the order of 68% to what is now 42%. By the payment of absolute moneys off in the order of $52 billion, we actually save somewhere in the order of $3 billion, which in this particular year was extremely important.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I want to pick up on the issue that the hon. member talked about, which was the commercialization of research, which is apparently disgusting in her mind. The Government of Canada has made a focus on research and development a priority. That is two words: research and development.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I caught the concerns of the hon. member about management. I wonder whether he has read the article by Bruce Little in the The Globe and Mail on March 18, “S&P; gives Canada shining report”. It states: Canada has been handed a glowing report card by a major bond rating agency, which praises the country's open economy, sound public finances and stable political system.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, over the period of time that we have been here, I have had the honour to sit beside the hon. member for more years than either he or I care to admit. I am somewhat sad to see that this might possibly be his last speech, at least for this particular term. I know that the hon. member will not be running in the upcoming election, so I want to ask him a question with respect to this budget.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I was a bit surprised by the hon. member's speech. I would have thought he would have spoken on things like tax cuts and issues of that nature, but he seems for some reason or another to have ignored that particular section of the budget. We are in the final year, this fiscal year coming, of a $100 billion tax cut, the largest chunk by far which is to come this year.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I am starting to get a persecution complex from this hon. member. On Monday she tried to get me kicked off the finance committee. She told me it was a matter of principle, not personal. I am touched. Now she is a little upset with my special mandate with respect to public-private partnerships.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I listened to the hon. member's speech and I recorded words like: “It is scandalous. It is illogical. It is a joke. It is a farce”. I stopped writing after that. It is hard to enter into a reasoned debate when pejorative language such as that is used. Apparently, it is a joke for the Government of Canada to set aside contingency moneys in the order of $4 million, whether they are contingency, reserves or prudence money.