Government Expenditures  Mr. Speaker, our government came forward with a very qualified nominee to head a review board for public appointments. The opposition decided to play partisan games with that nomination. As such, our government was unable to fill that position. We continue to make appointments based on merit, and the government is currently laying the groundwork for the eventual establishment of a public appointments commissioner.

Government Expenditures  In fact, Mr. Speaker, there are officials, three of them, within the secretariat in question who are in the process of establishing this important enhancement in the way that appointments are done. That does not change the fact that the Liberal leader said, “We will have to raise taxes”.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, last night on CBC the Liberal leader announced that he is a tax and spend Trudeau-Pearson Liberal who loves country music. That is the first of its kind of species. No one is accusing the Liberal leader of wanting to raise taxes. We are just reading his own words, “We will have to raise taxes”.

Government Spending  Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe that the Liberal Party would criticize us in these times of economic uncertainty. When there are forces of protectionism breathing down the necks of Canadian workers, the best thing we could do is employ people to fight on the front lines on our behalf.

Government Spending  Mr. Speaker, the Liberals want to blame us for everything that is going on in the economy and then take credit for everything that is going right. That is an example of the Liberal hypocrisy. We have defended our financial institutions. This party and both of its legacy parties opposed any bank mergers.

Israel Independence Day  Mr. Speaker, today we celebrate Israel Independence Day. Last week I joined the March of the Living at Auschwitz and observed the hideous scene of Nazi crimes. I witnessed there the resilience of the Jewish people, a people that has carved out of the desert one of the freest democracies on earth, in just six decades.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, in November 2004 the Liberal leader called himself a “tax-and-spend, Pearsonian, Trudeau Liberal”, but that was then. In 2006 he fathered the Liberal carbon tax, but that idea is no longer popular, please ignore it. Last December he said, “I'm not going to take a GST hike off the table”, but that is not quite what he meant.

Taxation  Words, Mr. Speaker. As an academic, a journalist and author, the Liberal leader has built his entire career on words. Surely he cannot tell us that his words mean nothing. If his words mean nothing, then he means nothing. His words were, “We will have to raise taxes”. Which taxes would he raise, how much would he raise them and who would have to pay?

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, as you know, the Parliamentary Budget Officer reports to the Parliamentary Librarian and he reports to you. As such, this question is out of order, unless you wish to answer it. The real reason the member is distracting from budgetary matters is that he has pushed for higher taxes on Canadian business, just as the Liberal leader has pushed for higher taxes on Canadians.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present in the House a petition signed by hunters, farmers and rural people who would like to see us scrap the billion-dollar long gun registry, which has not saved lives and has diverted resources away from people, away from real public security. These farmers and these hunters are not criminals.

Debit Cards  Mr. Speaker, we have already put in place the necessary legislation to allow us to proceed with regulations, legislation that the NDP voted against. We are presently working on the detailed regulations related to that. However, whether it is credit card, a debt or debit fees, what Canadian consumers and small businesses cannot afford is what the Liberal Party leader has indicated he will do when he said, “We will have to raise taxes”.

Employment Situation  Mr. Speaker, we are creating jobs with Canada's economic action plan. It does so by building roads, bridges, hockey arenas and other construction. We have cut taxes for the average family in the latest budget by roughly $500. We have given people a $1,300 home renovation tax credit to help builders and contractors get more work.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, we have Canada's economic action plan. The hon. member should allow that plan to work. What we will not do is what the leader of the Liberal Party has said, “We will have to raise taxes”. Those were his words. He did not say, “We might raise taxes”. He did not say, “We could raise taxes”.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, the member is clearly trying to distract from his leader's own words, “We will have to raise taxes”. He should indicate which taxes, when and who would pay. That is not the first time that the Liberal leader has said something of the sort. He called himself a “tax-and-spend, Pearsonian, Trudeau Liberal”.

Parliamentary Budget Officer  That is a question for you, Mr. Speaker, you control his budget. Let us talk about the five flip-flops of the week. The Liberal leader said he was against the asbestos sector, then he said he was for it. He opposed help for the auto sector in British Columbia, then he came back to Ontario and said he wanted even more spending on bailouts.