Business of the House  Mr. Speaker, a few minutes ago the Minister of Finance said “facts are the facts”. We agree with that. For that reason I ask for the consent of the House to table the “Fiscal Monitor”, a Department of Finance publication. It states, “April to November 2015: budgetary surplus of $1.0 billion”.

Finance  Mr. Speaker, every month that goes by under the leadership of the Liberal Party looks the same: deficit, deficit, deficit. Last Friday, we learned from the Department of Finance's monthly “Fiscal Monitor” that the government is running a $9-billion deficit. That same department said that the Conservative government left a surplus of $1 billion last November.

Finance  Mr. Speaker, the “Fiscal Monitor”, a publication of the Department of Finance, indicated that there was a $1-billion surplus. The latest edition shows that there is now a $9-billion deficit. That is what officials are saying. If the Minister of Finance does not believe his officials, does he at least agree with his Prime Minister, who said just a few days ago that the $30-billion deficit was an estimate and that it could be worse?

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, I am the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent, not the member for Louis-Hébert, who is a Liberal MP.

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his right and very important question. It is a real issue when we are talking about public money, and we are here to do that. People pay taxes and they want to know what we are doing with them. When we create deficits, we create debt, and we are shifting the bill to our children and grandchildren, even those who are not born today, and they will have to pay for the fact that we live over budget today.

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, I would encourage my colleague to use caution when quoting articles from foreign news sources, particularly if he is reading what the foreign press has to say about our Parliament and our Prime Minister these days. Since the member is quoting, I would like to quote from his election platform, which says these changes will be revenue neutral.

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, it is my turn to acknowledge the expertise of my colleague from Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, with whom I have had the pleasure of debating several times on RDI. I must admit that I would have to prepare a little bit before going on the air to debate an experienced economist like the member for Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques.

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my political party, I am pleased to speak in the debate on Bill C-2. As we have seen just now, Bill C-2 contains the initial application of the new Liberal government’s financial measures. We recognize that Canadians spoke last October 19. We are true democrats.

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, I wish to acknowledge my friend from Shawinigan. I am sorry, I mean the hon. member for Saint-Maurice—Champlain. When I see him I think of the Right Hon. Jean Chrétien, who of course was the member for that riding for many years. I want to assure the hon. member that I hold him in high regard.

Medical Assistance in Dying  Mr. Speaker, the government decided to withdraw Motion No. 6. That is a good thing. Well done. The government has also just told us that it will allow a free and full debate on Bill C-14. That is great. However, we need to be careful. We got burned on the bill on medical assistance in dying.

Medical Assistance in Dying  Mr. Speaker, that was not my question. Will the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons rise and give his word that no government representative will rise to stop debate on this very sensitive bill at second and third reading, yes or no? There is no call for partisanship on this bill.

Privilege  Mr. Speaker, I salute my colleague from Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot. We both served on the Special Joint Committee on Physician-Assisted Dying. It went very well. The proceedings were cordial, warm, and respectful, even though, at the end of the day, we all have different points of view.

Privilege  Mr. Speaker, like a third of the members of my caucus I have been here for just under seven months. However, I sat in the Quebec National Assembly for seven years and was a parliamentary press gallery reporter for seven years. I have been interested in politics for nearly 40 years.

National Maternity Assistance Program Strategy Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to say from the outset that we support this private member's bill. We think this bill is important. We certainly would not describe this bill as coming in by the back door. This bill was introduced by a member of Parliament who was duly elected by his constituents.

Air Canada Public Participation Act  Mr. Speaker, I acknowledge my colleague, the minister, but I have to admit that I am very disappointed. We do not think that the bill before us today is urgent at all. Unfortunately, the Liberal government is taking this sort of approach more and more frequently. It introduces a bill and when things do not go the way it wants, it imposes a gag order.