Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-49 which will implement some of the measures in the budget of December 2001. It is always a pleasure to speak in the House of Commons to such a large and attentive audience. I rarely have an audience like this so it is a real pleasure.
I was speaking to our House leader's assistant, David Prest, earlier today who really put the government's financial record into perspective for me. David and his wife, Carolyne Campbell, had a baby girl on Wednesday at the Queensway Carleton Hospital. They named her Amelia Carolyne Victoria. I asked David who she looked like and he said that he could not quite tell yet, but that the baby reminded him of the Liberal government. I asked him what he meant by that. He said that it was because she has a ferocious appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.
The budget was a missed opportunity. It was an opportunity to address the security needs in our nation and to put us back on financial track but what does it actually do? If we look at what it does not do, we see that there were no new debt payments resulting from the budget. It is inexcusable, particularly to people in my generation but also the generations that follow, for the government not keep its fiscal house in order and pay down the debt so that we can have a future.
We see no new taxes in the budget. The government has been bragging a lot about the fact that it has held taxes to the same level since October 2000, just before the last election, and that it will not go back on its word, but that is inexcusable, especially considering that the finance committee's report recommended tax reductions, particularly on capital. Reducing the tax on capital would allow more investment in Canada and would help address the economic slowdown we currently are experiencing.
The fact is, the government actually raised taxes. As the previous speaker indicated, it has raised taxes in the bill for airport security: $24 for a return trip. It is inexcusable that the government is forcing passengers to pay such a high cost for airport security. We have to consider it in relation to all the other taxes that are charged currently.
The base cost of a return ticket between Edmonton and Calgary is currently $100. How much tax is added on to that $100 ticket? With this airport security charge, it will now be $86 in taxes on a $100 ticket. Then we wonder why people are flying less and less each year. It is not only because of the situation caused with the increased security and the concerns about what happened on September 11, it is because we are taxing airline travel too much and it is hurting our air industry. I believe seven or eight airlines have collapsed or merged since the Liberal government took over. That simply is unacceptable.
I had the opportunity of having lunch with someone from the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association who said that payroll taxes were severely hurting his businesses. Payroll taxes, employment insurance and Canada pension plan, which have been increased, have severely hurt middle and low income earners to work their way up through society and pay for their families.
The EI surplus now is approximately $36 billion, which is unacceptable. As the auditor general has pointed out, a $15 billion surplus is more than enough to pay for any foreseeable economic downturn, including the one we are in, even if it worsens.
There is no reduction in program spending in any area. It was interesting to hear the finance minister earlier on in the year indicate that he favoured some reductions in program spending and that he would target and not move spending from lower priority areas to higher priority areas, especially given the events of September 11 and the need for increased spending for the RCMP, CSIS and defence.
However there was not one dollar in reductions in spending at all. There are many areas that have come to light, especially recently, such as Technology Partnerships Canada through Industry Canada, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and a lot of the R and D investment. If times are good and we are sitting in a very high surplus position maybe we should consider investing in these areas.
However when times are tough, when the economy is in a downturn and spending is needed for other areas, surely that is the time when it is moved from these lower priority areas to higher priority areas.
If we look at other additional spending investments, at a time when our troops are overseas in Afghanistan we are spending more money on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Canadian television fund. That simply does not recognize the priorities that Canadians want the government to have. They want more accountability and transparency in how their taxpayer dollars are used.
An older gentleman and a good friend of mine named Keith Cumming from my riding refers to this point all the time. He says we need to look at taxpayer funds as funds in trust.
Often when ministers rise to speak about spending they will often say their departments are spending the government's money on this or that. The fact is that it is not the government's money. The fact is that it is taxpayers money.
We do not own this money. Parliament is supposed to oversee this money and disburse it according to the priorities given to us by Canadians, but it is not our money. It should be considered taxpayer funds in trust.
This is an opportunity to address what are obviously the two most serious issues: the economic downturn and the need for increased security spending. The government failed in that aspect.
There has been a lot of discussion recently about whether or not the opposition supports our troops. Of course we unequivocally support our troops. The fact is it is our duty to stand in the House to ask on behalf of them and all Canadians that they be properly equipped.
When we send them into a situation where the rules of engagement are that they could very well face serious fire or serious resistance, we have to ensure that they are properly equipped. We have a situation where the equipment they are using will become obsolete over a number of years and where billions of dollars will be required in investment. Those billions of dollars are not being invested now. The fact is that the government will not be investing properly in equipping our troops. That is unacceptable.
The first priority of a nation and of a government has to be national security not only in the external arena but in the internal arena as well. Frankly those are areas where the government is simply not fulfilling its mission.
New defence spending of $1.2 billion is simply not enough. The Conference of Defence Associations, the Canadian Alliance and others have said that at least $1 billion to $2 billion each year is needed to address the shortfall in defence spending.
It was interesting in 1994 that defence was hit the hardest in the government's first budget. We are feeling the repercussions now. The decisions made then are unfortunately reaping the dividends of not preparing our troops and of not updating their equipment enough. The fact that the Sea King helicopters have not been replaced and will likely not be replaced until at least 2005 or even 2015 is simply unacceptable.
The budget was an opportunity to address economic fundamentals. One of the concerns Canadians in my riding raise with me is the Canadian dollar. They find it absolutely unacceptable that we allow a 62 cent or 63 cent dollar to exist over a long term.
If we look at what the dollar has done under the Liberals we see that it has been on a steady decline. When the Prime Minister was in opposition he complained about the Conservative government at that time having an 80 cent dollar. An 80 cent dollar is much better for us because the dollar is a symptom of the country's overall economic health.
The dollar signifies that our economic fundamentals are wrong, our productivity is too low, our debt levels are too high, our program spending is too high, our taxes are too high and thus investment is not coming in. It was released this year that Canadians are investing more outside Canada than inside Canada. It is unacceptable for a first class world nation to be in that economic situation.
We are the most blessed nation in terms of our natural resources. Yet we have a situation where the government is so mismanaging the financial aspects that we are becoming a second tier economic power. That is simply unacceptable and that is why I urge all members of the House to oppose the bill.
