Mr. Speaker, as a new member of Parliament I am pleased to deliver my maiden speech.
I am humbled by the history of this place and yet comforted to be part of the long tradition of Canadian democracy. This is not to say that tradition is static, unchanging. In fact, this is far from the case. Tradition, particularly the Canadian parliamentary tradition has adapted and evolved throughout the history of this institution.
There are many pressures on Parliament, on government and on parliamentarians to transform the way government operates. Economic, social, environmental, technological, political and global forces all act in different ways to challenge, to push and pull, to mould a new kind of relationship people have with their institutions. The Minister of Finance and the government recognized and welcomed this.
As a result the Minister of Finance has set upon an unprecedented budgetary process, a process that does not end with this one finite document. It is a process that if allowed to develop fully will lead to a new kind of partnership, a real and meaningful partnership among the people of Canada, their government, and their social and economic institutions.
It is only when we are able to understand the full extent and nature of our problems and when we undertake exploration of the widest possible range of solutions that we will ever begin to address the tough economic problems that affect our nation.
Canada has a rightful place as a leader among the nations of the world in the 21st century. Through the kind of consultation process the Minister of Finance has just begun we will not only solve our own problems successfully but we will also provide a model for other countries to emulate. The Minister of Finance has given all of us a great opportunity to work together and let our voices be heard, let our ideas be tested, let our vision of Canada meld with the rest to form the Canada we all want.
We have a difficult and challenging task before us: to restore integrity to government and erase public cynicism. As one parliamentarian I stand here today and say to the constituents in York-Simcoe, to Canadians from across this land, and to my colleagues on the other side of this House: We have the political will to open dialogue. We have the political will to renew the social, economic and political institutions of the country.
This is the reason I decided to run for office. I believed it is important, now more than ever, to rebuild the trust that has been broken between the people of Canada and their elected officials. I am sure that many of my hon. colleagues in this House have similar goals.
As Canadians, the most important thing we can remember is that we are in this together.
When I was elected a member of Parliament I did not stop being a citizen of Canada. I also have a stake in this. I have a family that I love dearly, a community that I am committed to and I have a country that I honour.
Like other Canadians across the nation, like my hon. colleagues on both sides of the House, I want this country to succeed. I want this Parliament to succeed.
My colleagues and I need all Canadians to have patience because as the hon. Minister of Finance said yesterday in his speech, the challenge today is not to rush. The challenge is to get things right.
We are not asking Canadians to have patience while the government sits back and does nothing. We have acted on our commitments and will continue to do so. We have fulfilled our promises to reinstate the court challenges program and to implement the national infrastructure program, the youth services program, the aboriginal head start program, the women's centres of excellence, the Canadian technology network, as well as many others.
The red book lives in this budget.
We need to have an opportunity for ideas to be generated and tested without being torn down. Creative juices are quick to freeze in a climate of frosty, unconstructive criticism. Now more than ever, it is necessary to develop alternative understandings and approaches to problem solving.
To paraphrase Albert Einstein, everything has changed but for our way of thinking.
If we are to approach government differently, we must all understand that not only government must change but we must change as well.