Income Tax Amendments Act, 1997  An hon. member opposite said it was two years too late. It was a heck of a lot faster than the previous government. We deregulated financial services, energy and transportation. Those policies helped this government. They helped lay the groundwork for this government to continue to eliminate the deficit.

Income Tax Amendments Act, 1997  Madam Speaker, obviously the hon. member was not so disenchanted in 1988 with the Conservative government's policies that it prevented her from running as a candidate. Obviously she felt quite comfortable in the Conservative Party's policies between—

Income Tax Amendments Act, 1997  Madam Speaker, I seem to have struck a chord. In any case, the economic policies and the mess the government of Brian Mulroney inherited dictated that we had to reduce by 15% per year program spending growth. We reduced it to zero by the time we left office. Beyond that we were able to not only reduce program spending, which was out of control at that time, but we were also able to reduce the deficit as a percentage of GDP.

Income Tax Amendments Act, 1997  Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. When he quoted me, in fact, I was quoting Brenda Robertson who writes for Investor's Digest . I urge the member to pick up a copy. It comes out tomorrow.

Income Tax Amendments Act, 1997  Yes, I do agree with her when she says that what is going to happen when we head into the next recession with 9% unemployment, crippling taxes, a massive debt and a weak dollar is that we are going to have to spend and, after having spent the fiscal dividend, we will have little recourse but to run renewed deficits as income slows.

Income Tax Amendments Act, 1997  Madam Speaker, it is with pleasure that I rise in the House today to speak to Bill C-28 which offers a wide range of tax related measures, most of which have been discussed at great length in the House by myself and other members. The bill demonstrates the Liberal philosophy to governing our country: government by knee jerk reaction, crisis management and economic tinkering.

Millennium Scholarship Fund  Mr. Speaker, the auditor general is the Canadian taxpayer's watchdog in Ottawa. The millennium scholarship fund is to be funded with $2.5 billion worth of Canadian taxpayer money, yet the budget implementation legislation does not give the auditor general any right of access to the books of the foundation.

Millennium Scholarship Fund  Mr. Speaker, the budget implementation legislation does not guarantee access for the auditor general and it is well known that there has been a public dispute between the Minister of Finance and the auditor general. Is the minister's fight with the auditor general the real reason the auditor general's access to the foundation's books has not been guaranteed?

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, Moody's, the firm that sets international credit ratings, has expressed fear that the government will start indiscriminate Liberal spending yet again. Despite the claim of a balanced budget, Canada's credit rating is two levels below that of our international trading partners.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, I am surprised the minister did not mention the Canadian dollar, which has shown some upward movement recently. The fact is that the only upward movement in the dollar is due to leadership, but not the leadership on that side of the House. The Prime Minister's idea of leadership is to place blame on the provinces for the health care system this government destroyed and to place blame on the currency traders for the government's financial ineptitude.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board  Mr. Speaker, the other chamber is currently holding hearings on Bill C-2 and the appointment process to the CPP investment board. The appearance of non-political appointments to this investment board is paramount to the integrity of the board itself and to Canadians' trust and confidence that their money will be invested properly.

Pensions  Mr. Speaker, the CPP fund is predicted to grow from $6 billion to $26 billion by 2007. Raising the foreign content rule will increase investment returns on this fund and benefit all Canadians. Even the Conference Board of Canada feels that the foreign property rules will make Canadians poorer.

Supply  Madam Speaker, I always enjoy listening to the erudite and lucid remarks of the hon. member for Vancouver Quadra. Coming from Nova Scotia, the cradle of higher education in Canada, education is very important to me and to my constituents. I would like to ask the hon. member about his feelings relative to national testing.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I would like the Minister of Health to listen to the words of an innocent hepatitis C victim, a constituent of mine, Connie Lake. Connie told me: “I just wish they would put an end to the games they are playing with the compensation. I am so disappointed in this Liberal government”.

The Budget  Madam Speaker, the hon. member brings an interesting perspective on the issue of fiscal policy to this House. As he mentioned, he was elected in 1972, I believe. The process of deficit reduction has taken 15 years. Those are not my words. Those are the words of the Leader of the Opposition in the budget debate, that it has taken 15 years of policies, including the GST, free trade, deregulation of financial services, transportation and, I would add, the elimination of the national energy program.