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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 186

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 27, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 186 - Apr/27/23
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)
  • Apr/27/23 10:52:17 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member cannot rewrite history. The facts speak for themselves. He wants to talk about Stephen Harper. Stephen Harper inherited a multi-billion dollar surplus and even before the recession kicked in, he had already turned that into a multi-billion dollar deficit, from a surplus to a deficit. The Conservatives had a multiple-billion dollar trade deficit which we have actually converted into a surplus. The member himself needs to recognize that his reality of the past is not necessarily accurate when we take a look at the facts. The facts clearly demonstrate that Stephen Harper's policies of constraint and cutbacks, including reducing national defence spending to less than 1% in one of his years, is something which one should not be overly fond of or proud of.
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Context: House Hansard - 186 - Apr/27/23
Mr. Blaine Calkins
  • Apr/27/23 10:53:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I guess what my colleague is saying is that he is grateful for the fact that Stephen Harper signed so many trade agreements that we finally erased the Liberal trade deficits that we inherited from the previous administration in 2006. From that perspective, if he wants to say thanks, I will tell him he is welcome but he does not get to change the facts. The first several years of the Harper administration, yes, we did inherit a surplus and then when Stephen Harper became the prime minister, the first couple of years, the first budgets that we had, we continued to actually pay down the debt because that was the responsible thing to do. Then 2008 and 2009 came along. Liberals begged and demanded. I remember Rodger Cuzner screaming at the top of his lungs in this place demanding that the Conservative government spend more, do more, spend more, borrow more money. Now the member across the way is complaining that we gave them a yes for an answer at the time. The heights of hypocrisy never cease to amaze me where Liberals are concerned.
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