Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to thank the committee for this opportunity to present our views on Canada's budget priorities. It would have been nice to do this before the budget was tabled, but nevertheless, just having the opportunity to do so is appreciated.
To our way of thinking, the budget that was tabled contains some interesting and worthwhile initiatives, but overall, it falls rather short.
We feel that first and foremost, the budget should have focused on ways of beefing up the employment insurance program, given the critical importance of this program during times of crisis. Moreover, from a macroeconomic standpoint, this program has the biggest repercussions. Since the program was reformed some fifteen years ago, it has never been tested in a real recession.
EI reform was, in our estimation, the key component of a recovery program. So then, we were deeply disappointed when we saw the budget. While it does provide for one improvement in that it calls for an extension of the benefit period, it fails to provide for any kind of notable improvements in areas that we deem equally important.
Even more disappointing to us is the fact that a considerable sum of money is being spent nevertheless in other areas. In some cases, this increased spending is admittedly justified. However, we feel that employment insurance must be considered a component of any recovery program.
During a recession, even a typical one, market indicators begin to fall and the unemployment rate begins to rise. As a rule, it takes six months for the economy to show any signs of a recovery and generally speaking, it takes at least two years before the unemployment rate returns to its pre-recession level. Assuming that the current recession will be deeper, there is every reason to believe that the unemployment problem is here to stay for awhile. In our opinion, that was a critical consideration.
On another note, the government did make an effort with respect to professional training and this effort was duly noted. However, we had also called upon the government to bring in special measures targeting older workers who will not be able to find new jobs, especially during this downturn. This type of program would have helped them bridge the gap between the end of their employment and retirement programs.
The program for older workers was cancelled under the Liberal government. Given the current state of the economy, it would have been the right thing for the government to do to reinstate this program, especially since it is not that costly, in the grand scheme of things. If our calculations are correct, the cost would be somewhere in the neighbourhood of $70 million.
The amounts announced for infrastructure spending are interesting. However, an order to buy Canadian appears to be missing from the budget.
The Americans have no qualms about imposing these restrictions, and it is all quite legal for them to do so under the WTO and NAFTA. Canada is a little like a boy scout that doesn't quite understand how things work in the real world.
No less than $100 billion will be spent on infrastructure in Canada over the next few years. There is nothing in the budget promoting Canadian content and Canadian businesses. Considering the potential spinoffs, this makes no sense at all to us.
However, the budget continues to contain measures respecting public-private partnerships which, in this current economic climate, only delay project implementation. This too makes no sense to us.
I don't have time to broach the issue of pay equity at length. It would simply like to add my voice to those of my union brothers and sisters who have stated that budget legislation is perhaps not the appropriate vehicle for discussing pay equity or finding solutions to this problem at the federal level. We fervently hope that the government will reconsider its decision and table separate parallel legislation.
Thank you very much.