The Budget  Mr. Speaker, my research has shown me that fear of criticism is usually caused by an intense negative experience from one's past, perhaps a sponsorship program that did not go so well. A major symptom of this fear is having difficulties with decision making out of fear of being criticized.

Points of Order  Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order with regard to the issue of statements by members, also known as S.O. 31. As you will be aware, both myself and the member for Beauport—Limoilou were cut off during our one minute statements by the Chair. I am aware of a ruling you made earlier today, Mr.

Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada  Mr. Speaker, an article in yesterday's Edmonton Journal raises serious concerns about past comments made by the current Liberal leader. It quotes his book Blood and Belonging, in which he states, “Ukrainian independence conjures up images of embroidered peasant shirts, the nasal whine of ethnic instruments”.

Carbon Tax  Mr. Speaker, last week in Edmonton the Liberal leader continued his attempts to hide from the Liberal carbon tax. Too bad that the carbon tax was the Liberal leader's idea. He first advocated it as part of his 2006 leadership campaign. He said that we needed to “put a price on carbon” and that we have to burden other Canadians who are able to bear energy costs.

Citizenship and Immigration  Mr. Speaker, during the early 1980s recession, the Liberals cut immigration levels in half. Today we learned that a Liberal senator said that the government should halt the programs of foreign workers. She was not talking about temporary workers but all foreign workers coming to Canada.

Bryce Keller Memorial Bursary  Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend one of my constituents, Sarah Keller, a member of the Canadian Forces, who has created a bursary at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. On August 3, 2006, Corporal Bryce Keller, Sarah's husband, was killed in a firefight in Kandahar.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, the government finds it very important to support those who have lost their jobs. To do so we have increased EI by five weeks. We feel this extension will be very helpful in supporting those people. We had done consultations on this matter, and we felt this was the best way to support those people who have lost their jobs.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member forgets to note that this economic crisis was not created in Canada. It started in the U.S. and has gone across, and Canada has been affected. This is one of the quickest budgets to come forward. It is a budget that will help Canadians. Money will flow.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, regarding the hon. member's first comments about tax breaks, I fully believe, and I know this government does as well, that giving money back to Canadians is one of the best ways to stimulate the economy. We should allow Canadians to decide where to spend that money.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, Canada's economic action plan is a multi-year plan designed to stimulate the economy while protecting Canadians who are affected most by this economic crisis. This plan is the right choice for Canada because this government undertook the most comprehensive prebudget consultations ever.

Opposition Coalition Proposal  Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to read a quote from one of the separatist coalition's biggest supporters, “Sovereignists have no interest in people looking at Ottawa as a stable serious government. The image projected must be that of a weak government”. These are the words of Jacques Parizeau, the man who almost tore our great country apart.

Economic and Fiscal Statement  Mr. Speaker, when I ran in this past election, I ran on a platform, a platform that we presented to the people of my riding. We went door to door and talked to them about what we would do. I am very sure that the hon. member did not go door to door and talk to people about a coalition.

Economic and Fiscal Statement  Mr. Speaker, the situation with the letter was explained earlier today in the House. However, that actually was a very different situation. Right now we are dealing with a government that was elected by the people on October 14 and the backroom deals that are being put together right now go against what the voters did that day.

Economic and Fiscal Statement  Mr. Speaker, the government has already doubled infrastructure funding and has announced that it will start to release more funding to speed up that funding for projects. This will create jobs and help the economy. It was announced that the budget would come in January. We are ready to take action and more details will be in that budget.

Economic and Fiscal Statement  Mr. Speaker, he is absolutely right. Having the NDP as part of that coalition would raise business taxes and take away the business tax cuts that we have already put in place. Those tax cuts allow businesses to be sustainable, to grow and to hire. We need people to get back to work.