Business of Supply  The motion is about the government's refusal to provide to the finance committee the information it needs to judge the government's legislation, including the efficacy or sense of corporate tax cuts today when we have a $56 billion deficit. The hon. member made a couple of points that are not related to today's motion, but out of the kindness of my heart, I will respond to them. In terms of health care investments, not only did the previous Liberal government balance the books but it also increased transfers to the provinces to record highs.

Business of Supply  Canada was considered to be in the best shape one could imagine. Now we have a deficit of $56 billion that the Conservatives started before the recession. What is the government's plan to address this deficit? Where are the analysts? Where are the numbers? We are concerned by the fact that many of the Conservatives' plans are costly and bad policies.

Business of Supply  What would be the benefit of additional tax cuts to corporations at a time when we have a deficit of $56 billion? Those are legitimate questions but we have not received any answers. This is unacceptable. This is a shame. The government may not respect Canadians or democracy.

Business of Supply  Transfers to the provinces had been raised to an all-time record high, including $41 billion for health care, a new transfer for municipalities and a better deal on equalization, the best deal the provinces had ever had. The difference now is the Conservatives have put us into $56 billion of debt and their corporate tax cuts are unaffordable.

Petitions  Committing 1,000 soldiers to a training mission still presents a danger to our troops and an unnecessary expense when our country is faced with a $56 billion deficit. The military mission has cost Canadians more than $18 billion, money that could have been used to improve health care and seniors' pensions right here in Canada. Polls show that a clear majority of Canadians do not want Canada's military presence to continue after the scheduled removal date of July 2011.

National Defence committee  Will this break the bank? I mean, we have the $56 billion. Is that going to jump up if this is passed? Are we talking about big dollars here? Is there a way of perhaps putting a cap of $5,000 or $10,000 on it?

Petitions  Committing 1,000 soldiers to a training mission still presents a danger to our troops and an unnecessary expense when our country is faced with a $56 billion deficit. The military mission has cost Canadians more than $18 billion so far, money that could have been used to improve health care and seniors' pensions right here in Canada. In fact, polls show that a clear majority of Canadians do not want Canada's military mission to continue after the scheduled removal date of July 2011.

Government Operations committee  That's a remarkable growth in spending. In fact, in the last two years we've seen record deficits of $45 billion and $56 billion respectively, making it obviously challenging for departments like yours. The IMF and the Parliamentary Budget Officer both say that the country has a structural deficit. This, of course, is in contrast to what the finance minister wants Canadians to believe.

Petitions  Committing 1,000 soldiers to a training mission still presents a danger to our troops and an unnecessary expense when our country is faced with a $56 billion deficit. The military mission has cost Canadians more than $18 billion so far, money that could have been used to improve health care and seniors' pensions right here in Canada. In fact, polls show that a clear majority of Canadians do not want Canada's military presence to continue after the scheduled removal date of July 2011.

Finance committee  Actually, sir, when we provide these projections--again, the projection is in front of you today--as I alluded to one of your colleagues earlier, we're saying that the deficit is $56 billion, or roughly 3.5% in 2009-10. We're saying that the deficit is going to be less than $40 billion this year. We're saying that the deficit is going to fall to $30 billion. Sir, President Obama released their budget yesterday.

Finance committee  But again, just on a deficit term, in our projections today, which we talked about, we're saying the deficit will come in just under $40 billion, well below $56 billion in 2009-10--so, again, a $40 billion deficit projection, just under, for 2010. The deficit is falling. When we look at the Fiscal Monitor—we have eight months' worth of information—the deficit is coming down.

Finance committee  On a status quo basis, the fiscal outlook is essentially unchanged from the projections provided to this committee last fall. The federal deficit is projected to fall from $56 billion, or 3.6% of GDP, in 2009-10, to $39.8 billion, or 2.5% of GDP, in 2010-11, to roughly $10 billion, or 0.5% of GDP, in 2015-16. The federal debt is projected to rise from $519 billion, or 34% of GDP, in 2009-10, to $652 billion, or 31.9% of GDP, in 2015-16.

Petitions  Committing 1,000 soldiers to a training mission still presents a danger to our troops and an unnecessary expense when our country is faced with a $56 billion deficit. The military mission has cost Canadians more than $18 billion so far, money that could have been used to improve health care and seniors' pensions right here in Canada. Polls show that a clear majority of Canadians do not want Canada's military presence to continue after the scheduled removal date of July 2011.

Access to Information  Mr. Speaker, after ringing up a record $56 billion deficit, the Conservatives are now trying to hide the facts from Canadians. The finance committee has asked for the cost of justice bills, as well as projections of corporate profits, but the Conservatives have refused, falsely claiming cabinet confidence.

Government Spending  Mr. Speaker, we are looking at a $56 billion deficit, yet Conservatives want to borrow another $6 billion just to give Canada's wealthiest corporations a tax break they obviously do not need because tax rates are already low.