Mr. Speaker, since the Reform member referred to some of my comments, I should respond.
One of the reasons we have for students going south is that the opportunity for expansion was not there to the extent that it should have been in the Waterloo region. That is what you get when you invest in infrastructure and that is exactly what we are doing now.
In the past in my community there were so many good things happening that Canadians did not need the co-ordination between government, industry and the educational sector to the extent that it is needed now. That is important to understand.
I am a little distressed when the member keeps referring to Bombardier because all sorts of money went out under the Canada technology partnership fund. That is a perfect example of a critical investment in research and development in this country which in terms of our new policies is not a giveaway. It is money that we will get back with interest.
The member from the Reform Party talks about having gone to zero deficit in three years. If that plan ever had a chance of happening, it would be worse than what Mike Harris is doing. It would devastate this country. Since Mike Harris began his plan of tax cuts there has been a net loss in jobs in the province of Ontario. It has actually been a drag on overall Canadian job creation.
It is necessary for Reform to understand that by destroying an economy you do not get more tax revenues. You get less. When you destroy an economy you have less tax revenue. I know Reform Party members do not like good news but I recommend that they read the report in the business section of the Globe and Mail because there is good news there every day. The Canadian prime rate, 4.75 per cent; U.S. prime rate, 8.25 per cent; on $100,000 borrowed in Canada, the consumers, the small businesses, save $3,500.
I can also refer them to another happy story. The headline is "Economy on a Tear. Consumer spending, exports, business investments produce outstandingly strong numbers. Canada's private sector appears to be firing in all cylinders".
The government's policy was set up to create the climate for the private sector to start creating jobs, and it is happening. In spite of all the cuts governments have made across the country, which have cost overall about 100,000 jobs, because they have had the right climate, private businesses have created 800,000 jobs. So over 700,000 jobs have been created since this government came to office. It all rested on the integrity of our fiscal policies, on the integrity of the finance minister whereby we met our financial targets time after time. It is unparalleled in budget forecasting. That is why the economy is doing that well.
So I suggest to Reform members-