Movement Of Grain  CN advises that it is only spotting empties today in locations that do not already have cars and CN will not be spotting empty cars next week. CN has 19 trains built and staged in Vancouver that cannot be moved forward. CN also has 3,400 cars under load near Vancouver while CP has 2,300 cars waiting with grain. In Vancouver CN has 700 cars. CP has 850 loaded rail cars sitting in Vancouver at the moment. Neither railway is lifting cars for Vancouver.

Supply  Also, before the 1998 budget the federal tax paid by two earner families of four earning an income of $50,000 was $3,716. After the 1999 budget this family paid $3,160. So a one earner family paid $3,400 more or 91.5% more in federal taxes than a two earner family before the 1998 budget. After the 1999 budget this difference rose to $3,304, for an increase of 104%. That is what this debate is about today.

The Budget  In terms of the dissemination of knowledge, we have set a goal of making Canada the most connected nation in the world by next year. Thanks to SchoolNet, we are on course to see Canada's 16,000 public schools and 3,400 public libraries connected to the Internet by March 31 this year. Up to 10,000 rural and urban communities will be connected through the community access program in two years. Building on these efforts, and following the advice of a blue ribbon panel announced by the Prime Minister last year, this budget provides $60 million over the next three years to fund smart communities demonstration projects.

Tax On Financial Transactions  The RRMCs have now formed an association called the Organization of Rural Route Mail Couriers in a serious attempt to get the government to change their working conditions. There are now over 3,400 signed members who are dedicated to improving their lifestyles. These members deliver mail to several million householders across rural Canada. They virtually do the same work as their urban counterparts.

Canadian Human Rights Act  We also have the lowest net farm income in western Canada since the great depression of 1929 and the 1930s. At $3,400 per farm this year that is the lowest per farm net income recorded since Statistics Canada began keeping records in 1926. The agriculture and food industry in Saskatchewan is related to over 40% of all jobs in the province.

Fifteenth Anniversary Of La Soupière In Anjou  Weekly, for the past 15 years, the volunteers at La Soupière have been providing a nutritious meal to the isolated and disadvantaged residents of Anjou. In 1997-98, 40 volunteers served close to 3,400 meals. This represents 2,300 volunteer hours. Imagine how many meals and volunteer hours that adds up to over its 15 years. I would also like to draw attention to the excellent co-operation between La Soupière, the city of Anjou, local merchants, Moisson Montréal, the various funding bodies, and the local community organizations.

Costal Fisheries Protection Act  These decisions divided the total allowable catch in this way: Canada, 16,300 tonnes; the European Union, 3,400 tonnes; Russia, 3,200 tonnes; Japan, 2,600 tonnes; and 1,500 tonnes for other NAFO members. However, that was not enough to save the stocks of turbot. Shortly thereafter the EU lodged an objection and set its own unilateral quota which was five times higher than the allotted quota of NAFO.

Income Tax Act  We are working with private and public sector partners to ensure that all of Canada's 16,500 schools and 3,400 libraries are connected to the Internet by 1998. We are also setting the conditions for Canada to become a laboratory for the creation of interactive, multimedia learning software and networks.

Customs Act  Statistics from all ports of entry indicate that there were 8,500 suspected impaired drivers who tried to enter Canada in a two and a half year period which is about 3,400 impaired drivers rolling into Canada from the U.S. each year. In the past we had little or no opportunity to stop them or apprehend them. We are told that each year there have been some 80 suspected child abductors, sad cases of people using children as pawns in illegal activities, rolling up to customs where little or nothing happens to detain or arrest them.

Telecommunications Act  The community access program connects and will connect every rural Canadian community with more than 400 people to the Internet by the year 2000. And how could we forget the SchoolNet program which connects all our 16,500 schools and 3,400 public libraries in Canada to the Internet. Across this country students, teachers, professionals, business people and just Canadians are using these facilities because we have to ensure Internet literacy and move forward into the next century which will be different than the last century.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act  I gave a statement in the House the other day in which I pointed out that young people today, like the member who was speaking, pay $3,400 a year for 35 years to pick up a pension of about $8,800 a year, when that same money invested in a very modest RRSP style plan for the same number of years would end up with an annuity of something like $92,000 a year.

Speech From The Throne  As stated in our throne speech, the mandate before 2001 is to connect well over 5,000 rural communities across Canada to the Internet to help them to get information at home or at their business. The SchoolNet program will encourage the connection of some 16,500 schools, 3,400 libraries and 450 first nation schools to the Internet by the end of 1998-99. For everyone's information, well over 9,500 schools and 1,200 public libraries have been connected. Each day across this country new libraries are being connected to this excellent program.

Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary  Working closely with the Canadian Coast Guard and made up mostly of fishermen and recreational boaters, the auxiliary 3,400 members and their 1,300 vessels are an invaluable part of our marine search and rescue network. The auxiliary's work also extends to prevention activities as members dedicate their time to conduct demonstrations of marine safety equipment, give lectures on boating safety, conduct courtesy examinations of pleasure craft and fishing vessels, and participate in boat shows.

Income Tax Budget Amendments Act, 1996  There is only one Canadian taxpayer and that is who is paying. Of the $10,200 the average taxpayer sends to the federal government each year, about $3,400 of it will go to service the huge public debt. Then we come to the deficit. It was projected at the time of the budget at $19 billion for this fiscal year. It is hardly a figure to brag about, but that is exactly what the Liberals have been doing.

The Budget  The Liberal vision is a country where the average taxpayer pays $10,200 to the federal government each and every year, and $3,400 a year is to service the debt alone. As well the Liberal vision is a country where 7.3 million Canadians earning less than $30,000 pay 27 per cent of their incomes to the federal government.