Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would just like to take this opportunity to comment on the power and responsibility I feel I have as a Regular Member of this Assembly and to make a point that if we are to conduct ourselves as part of a consensus government, we must be able to exercise our power and responsibility to the fullest extent possible, especially when we are dealing with something as fundamental as setting a budget for the whole fiscal year coming before us.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that we are operating under some constraints -- not only due to the deficit situation, but also due to the reduced time frames that we have had to work with as a result of the last general election -- but I don't think that these constraints should necessarily reduce our power.
In the last Assembly, I sat through four budget sessions where the orientation of the government seemed to be spend, spend, spend, because the good times were coming and we raised taxes. Mr. Speaker, I tell you I opposed the tax initiatives and out-of-control spending and I know the current Minister of Finance was right there with me. Now, the orientation in this Assembly seems to be cut, cut, cut, and still we raise taxes.
Mr. Speaker, in both situations, I am having a problem with the fact that we have to take the whole package the government offers -- take it or leave it -- and I don't think that's right. I think if we have a consensus government we should have the ability to review what's presented to us, to have a say on where we stand on each item. It shouldn't mean that if we accept one, we accept the whole package or that if we reject one, that we're rejecting the whole thing. If we, on this side of the House, have a recommendation that has a strong consensus, I really believe the government has an obligation and responsibility to listen to us and not say, you can't ask for this...
Mr. Speaker, I ask for unanimous consent to conclude my statement.