Madam Speaker, I want to offer my congratulations to the Minister of Finance on his presentation of yesterday's budget, a budget in my opinion that was fair and balanced. I think it meets the first test that was put down by all Canadians, that it had to be fair and balanced, fair to all Canadians, all individuals and all regions. The finance minister has succeeded in doing that, at the same time making a major effort in bringing down the deficit and the debt and getting government right for the first time in a good many years.
I rise in the House today not only to address the budget which was introduced yesterday but also to comment on a disease which I see gripping Canada, a disease which becomes more visible and widespread during events like this budget debate. It is a disease born from a lack of understanding, compassion and acceptance. It is a disease which focuses on self. It is a disease perpetuated by individuals, businesses, media types and hon. members alike. I am referring to what I call the culture of victimization.
This culture is both painted and exacerbated with brushes almost exclusively from the political right. I believe that in the last 10 years there has been an alarming increase in the perception that we, each and everyone of us, is a victim. Canadians are victims. We live in fear of further victimization. In truth, I believe that this paranoia has created a society in which we are all victims of something out of necessity.
We are victims of crime. We are victims of taxes. We are victims of government. We are victims of big corporations. We are victims of interest groups. We are victims as westerners. We are victims as Quebecers. We are victims as easterners. We are victims if we speak English. We are victims if we speak French. We are rarely just people who share a single common bond. However, we do have that common bond. We all are Canadians. It is this undeniable fact that we are all Canadians upon which the Minister of Finance has based his budget.
The $7 expenditure reduction for every dollar in new tax revenue is not a burden attributable to one type of Canadian but to all Canadians. If we are all affected, can we possibly all be victims? As I listened to some hon. members opposite I hear those ominous words reinforcing the notion that we are victims.
Some interest groups and even provinces which did not get what they wanted from this budget have said that this government has not been straight with them. Like spoiled children, our critics demand more for themselves with little or no regard for others. At the same time they demand greater fiscal restraint and usually expect someone else to shoulder their burden.
They tell Canadians to believe, really to expect that it is the government's responsibility to make things better for themselves. It is the government's job to make life happier: "If life is not the way I think it should be it is because that big, mean government machine will not let me succeed, for I am a victim". We have all in some way contributed to the creation of this culture in which we perceive ourselves as helpless victims.
For example, economic indicators suggest that Canadians are recovering from the recession of the early 1990s. Yet a certain trauma lingers. The Minister of Finance surpassed his 1994 cost cutting goals and yet the opposition howls. Program spending will be reduced by about $10 billion and that is a benefit to all Canadians. The opposition howls again: "What about me?".
In many ways, and thanks to the critics, Canadians have become more dependent on government. Government is expected to ensure that we all have jobs and also accommodate our every whim. Government is even expected to bandage our scratches. We have become less reliant on ourselves and on our own abilities. Thus we have let ourselves become victims. We cannot think only of ourselves. Nor can we accept this characterization that we live in a culture of victimization.
Kennedy was right when he said our privileges can be no greater than our obligations. The protection of our rights can endure no longer than the performance of our responsibilities.
Reformers would have us slash and burn programs and services to all Canadians; let us cut deeper and indiscriminately. The political right in this country would never have conceived the notion of compassion and human understanding as demonstrated by the introduction of the new Canada social transfer to the provinces.
It is true that money to the provinces will be reduced as a means of getting our financial house in order. This action cannot and should not be viewed as an indirect means of attacking individuals. Rather, such action demonstrates our commitment to getting government right by reducing overlap and duplication.
Canadians are being presented with the opportunity to help create and develop a more mature fiscal federalism. Through initiatives like the Canada social transfer the government has met the requirements needed to accommodate citizens' con-
cerns for more sustainable programs and provinces' concerns for greater flexibility.
Keep in mind that the Minister of Finance has taken into account that change requires a period of adjustment. This government has not lost sight of the individual faces which will be affected in this budget. This government does not intend to perpetuate the notion that we live in a culture in which we are victims.
Reformers in their budget played on the fears of those who see themselves as victims. Some members opposite would have us believe that if we simply cut, cut, cut then everything will be better. At the same time Reformers will not commit to one course of action. If you do not like where we have made cuts, then the response is simple: make your own cuts. They had better add up to the bottom line. Such a nonchalant, bottom line approach implies that wherever the greatest burden exists according to your own criteria, cut that. Just make sure you meet the bottom line.
It is that kind of naive analysis which perpetuates our cultural victimization. It would be wonderful to look at our own personal budgets and cut those items which seem to cost the most. Why worry about food, clothing and shelter? According to some members it is only the bottom line that counts. Why concern yourself with being human? We simply must balance the budget regardless of the social cost.
These types of cuts to food, clothing and shelter are unrealistic on a personal level and are unacceptable at a federal level. We must evaluate what is important to us and from there determine where we can reduce expenditures. That is the approach taken by this government and by this finance minister.
Simply cutting to meet a bottom line would make us even greater victims. Sound reasoning and methodology were used to determine areas of waste, areas of duplication and areas lacking profitability. Through this realistic evaluation of Canada's economic house, the Minister of Finance has introduced an approach for fiscal responsibility which affirms the notion of cultural success. The government is not contributing to the disease of cultural victimization.
Essentially the third party would leave us to our own greed: "I live in the west, so I will cut services in the east". Let us be honest. Society cannot survive if we are enthnocentric. This type of self-absorbed regional attitude creates a slippery slope; we pick at the cultural threads of the Canadian fabric in a futile attempt to hang on.
What happens is that the fabric becomes warn and ripped. We must not continue to think we live in a cultural environment as victims. We must not succumb to the notion that in order to survive we must be the strongest or the most resourceful.
Reformers would have us all fall prey to this logic, a logic which would throw out the social fabric and not repair it. If use of this type of logic has as its only goal the elimination of the debt, then what this approach does is forget that each and every one of us, regardless of our province or country of origin, whether from Manitoba or Prince Edward Island, whether Yukon or Nunavut, new Canadian or native Canadian, is still a member of a community.
We cannot survive if we focus on only my needs or my wants. By virtue of our tendency as human beings to exist in groups because we are social creatures we must look beyond our own shadows.
Canadians wanted and deserved a budget which espoused the virtues of fairness and equity. The minister has accomplished that goal. Both corporations and individuals are equal partners in the fight to save Canada.
We know that the Minister of Finance is serious. That is why both individuals and corporations have been brought into alignment. Through improvements to the tax system, for example, requiring professional and other unincorporated business to pay taxes on income in the year in which it is earned, just like wage earners do, this budget has actively removed barriers which have contributed to the culture of victimization.
We are fortunate that we live in a society that enables us to exist as a synergistic entity where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts or members. I will not deny that each of us has problems, some unique to a few individuals, some to a particular region of Canada, which affect all of us.
We must be able to stretch out our arms further and run faster so that we are not borne ceaselessly into the past. We must accept our responsibilities first as Canadians. We must also realize that change is not inherently bad or negative. We must realize that we are not victims but victors.
At this point I want to congratulate the Minister for Human Resources Development and fellow federal Manitoba Liberal caucus members for their hard work and commitment with regard to this budget.
Two months ago the prospect of losing air command became a horrible possibility. However, after yesterday's budget the reality for Manitobans is less severe. Only about 350 to 375 jobs will be affected as a result of air command's closure. This is a significant difference from the anticipated number of jobs which would have been lost. Although loss of air command will be difficult for Manitobans, I am confident that once the government's reasons are understood, Manitobans will be able to accept this change.
Acceptance will result from a sense of fair play because it was not only air command that was closed, but naval command in the Atlantic region and army command in Quebec were also closed.
I can tell members there were people in Winnipeg who thought that we would not be fair, that we might close air command but we certainly would not close army command in Quebec. It was done because the minister and the government believe in fairness.
Manitobans will be able to appreciate that we were not singled out for cuts. All regions have been affected. We cannot forget that these closures are significant to their respective regions but we will not lose sight of the fact that an entire level of management has been removed at considerable saving to all Canadian taxpayers.
The budget introduced yesterday redefines Canada and its relationship with the provinces. Canadians are entering a new era, a significant step has been taken toward eliminating the culture of victimization which we have created. At long last, government has sought to ensure that fundamental values are preserved while appreciating the inherent differences among provinces. Through the decentralization of airports in Canada, for example, the government is preserving its role of guardian but accepts the realization that people in Winnipeg, Toronto and Barrie, Ontario are able to oversee the successful operation of their local airports.
These efforts not only remove layers of bureaucracy but also serve as positive motivation for all Canadians who are able to function within a federation and not be victims of our regional identities.
There is more to government than just cutting. There is smart government which appreciates the social, cultural and moral obligations. Perhaps now we can move beyond an attitude that asks: What do you expect in a regional country? Of course we are going to complain. Perhaps the Leader of the Opposition will come to appreciate the notion of fair play and understand that Quebec may receive $2 billion less in transfer payments but that all the provinces will experience the same kind of reductions.
Perhaps members opposite will learn something of fair play and refrain from trying to manipulate reality to suit a limited agenda. I am referring to comments made that immigrants living in Quebec should not be allowed to vote in a referendum, the question evolving to include the notion of who is a real Quebecer and who is not. We must work from our most common denominator. We are all Canadians and we should all be entitled to the pain and to the glory.
Ironically, most times, leadership is equated to economic performance. President Clinton is doing the very same thing across the border as we are doing here. He is trimming the bureaucracy and reducing the debt. Despite President Clinton's efforts the economic outlook is not nearly as positive as it is in Canada. Yet Americans seem to believe in themselves and in their ability to overcome any adversity.
In Canada, however, we are being convinced how bad it really is. We listen to the leader of the third party, who when talking with the media uses words like dishonest, cowardly and hypocritical. I wonder how we can forget that ever-ominous threat that the chickens will come home to roost. I suspect that the grassroots are having their gooses cooked. The political right would have issues decided by polls. It would be democracy by telephone. There would be no consultation, no research, no compromise or leadership. Opinion would reign supreme.
I suspect that the Reform leader would soon find out that burdening every Canadian with every decision would have a number of disastrous results, much like a grassroots guru attempting to split atoms like he splits economic hairs.
This may come as a surprise to members opposite but the reason behind democracy and having an elected representative is the notion of efficiency and leadership. To govern is to choose.
If we are to survive we must learn to believe in ourselves and in this great country. We must accept the economic and social realities and strive for tomorrow. Some would suggest that things can only get better, but I submit to the House that it is a subjective goal.
In the eyes of the United Nations, Canadians live in the best country in the world. In a recent Swiss survey four Canadian cities were considered among the 12 best places in the world to live. Other nations and other cultures believe in and envy the Canadian reality. The question now is: Why are Canadians so cranky? Why is it that the majority of Canadians feel victimized in one way or another?
Our challenge is to create a culture not of victims but of victors. We must nurture the creation of a culture in which we act out of compassion for others, not necessarily only for monetary compensation. Success should be measured by the results, not by the amount of money spent. Let me repeat, success should be measured on the basis of results. These results must be evaluated both according to economic criteria and social criteria. That is what members opposite fail to appreciate about the minister's budget of yesterday.
When has a Reformer asked us to think of others before thinking of our own individual interests? When has the Leader of the Opposition considered the wants of Quebecers when he muses about postponing the referendum date so as to be able to manipulate the results? This is not democracy. When will Canadians be allowed to seek appreciation and elevate their
self-esteem, receiving joy from the notion that the receiving is in the giving?
This is a budget debate, but there is more to a budget than numbers. There are the people who are affected by change.
