Part of today's speech by Michael Ignatieff regarding the budget

We Liberals understand about leadership in tough times. 

 

Canadians turn to us when times are tough.

 

Canadians remember.

 

Sound fiscal management, repeated surpluses, debt reduction, and tax cuts on profits, revenue and income. Strong financial performance and forward-looking social policies.

 

Canadians remember -- we cleaned up the $42-billion deficit left behind by the Mulroney years.

 

We slayed that deficit, but at a steep cost.

 

Today, Mr. Harper is taking us back to those tough Tory times. 

 

Just yesterday, he signalled that we should be prepared for a $64-billion deficit in the next two years alone. He wants to get the bad news out of the way before the budget.

 

I asked Mr. Harper not to play games like that.  I wanted him to put the facts and figures on the table, not let them slip out at his convenience.  I think he just can’t help himself.  He thinks it is all just some kind of game.

 

The release of this budget information is irresponsible and potentially costly to the economy.

 

And who knows how many years Harper is planning to be in deficit? He hasn’t shared that information.

 

What we do know is that it was a long, hard road to dig us out of a huge deficit after the last Tory government. 

 

As we face the budget choices next week, I’ve been clear.

 

Targeted help to those Canadians who need help most is absolutely essential.

 

Broad-based tax cuts that dig us deeper into deficit are not.

 

This is not about gimmicks or politically popular moves. 

 

It is about listening to the real needs of Canadians. 

 

It is about trust. 

 

It is about competence.

 

And this is an issue of political morality.

 

My generation should pay its own freight. We shouldn’t burden the next generation with debts we didn’t pay off.

 

If the government proposes a deficit, I want to see the plan that digs us out of it quickly.  And I don’t want that plan based upon some unrealistic projections made up inside the Prime Minister’s Office.  Trust Canadians with the truth. 

 

Then show them competence.

 

When a Liberal government returned the country to surplus we set aside a contingency reserve – savings for a rainy day. 

 

A $3-billion dollar cushion.

 

But this government had other ideas.  They scrapped that reserve. They spent rashly. They cut taxes rashly.  They brought Canada to the red line when times were good.

 

Now the cupboard is bare. We face hard times, headed towards a deficit which may top $100 billion before we see the other side of this.

 

Barely eight weeks ago, the government claimed there would be only a short recession and certainly no need to run a deficit.

 

How did Stephen Harper so completely misjudge the crisis before us?

 

In September, on the campaign trail, Mr. Harper said if we were going to have a recession, we probably would have had it by now.

 

In October, he told us there was still no recession, but there sure were “a lot of great buying opportunities emerging… as a consequence of all the panic.”

 

In all seriousness, that was Mr. Harper’s strategy.

 

Let the chips fall where they may, and if you can make a few bucks off the misfortune of others, good luck to you.

 

Then, on November 27^th, in front of Parliament and all Canadians, the Conservative government put forward its economic update.

 

According to Mr. Harper, there would be a surplus.

 

He said that the right way to address Canada’s difficulties was to take away civil servants’ right to strike, attack pay equity for women, and stop public funding for political parties.

 

That was not a program. It was a provocation.

 

And we said: No you don’t.  Back down. Think again.  This isn’t a game.  It is a recession with painful human consequences.