Mr. Speaker, where should I begin?
First of all, I will say that I am very proud of the seven years I spent in the Quebec National Assembly as the member for Chauveau.
Furthermore, I would like to remind the member, who is starting his career in the House of Commons, that one does not have to be in power to be proud of representing one’s fellow citizens. Personally, I am very proud to have represented the citizens of Chauveau for seven years in the Quebec National Assembly. There is a reason I was elected three times.
Incidentally, I always had 52% or 53% of the vote, an absolute majority. And I also won by an absolute majority a year ago, in the federal election. If the member wants to go there, good luck to him. He will not go unchallenged.
With regard to substance, the member is talking about our budget. I would like to remind him that when we were in power, we faced the worst economic recession in history since the Great Depression. Canada was the country that fared best. It was the first G7 country to come out of recession.
We like to compare ourselves to the best, and we were the best.