Madam Speaker, I stand today to respond to a few of the comments on Bill C-17 by members of the opposition this morning and on previous days.
I am a strong believer that we have the good fortune of living in the greatest country in the world. I would also include the province of Quebec in my country. It is part of Canada today. We certainly look forward to it being part of Canada for many years in the future.
With regard to Bill C-17, I am extremely proud of the Minister of Finance and the time he took for consultations across the nation. As every member of the House is well aware he gave every opportunity to bring forward expertise from the various sectors of our community and our business world. He did this in addition to bringing together a number of economists and other people with background and expertise in various fields.
In addition he did something a little different. He allowed the House to have the opportunity of a pre-budget debate. Members of opposition parties had the opportunity to bring forth suggestions, ideas and input previous to presentation of the budget.
I must welcome the occupant of the chair. We have a new Acting Speaker, a member from my home province of New Brunswick who looks exceptionally good in the chair of the House of Commons.
I am extremely proud of the minister and the opportunity he gave each and every one of us in the House to bring forward our ideas and thoughts. It should not have been an opportunity just to bring forward our own thoughts and ideas on the subject matter. It should have been an opportunity for us to bring forward the thoughts and ideas of our constituents. Like every member of the House I received many pieces of correspondence and many telephone calls with sincere suggestions, input and ideas about the forthcoming budget.
After all the consultation and opportunity, the Minister of Finance brought forward a balanced, fair and equitable budget for all parts of Canada and all Canadians. Some difficult decisions were made in the budget. They were difficult for the minister and for government members. Yet they were responsible decisions.
For example, I am sure no one on the government side anticipated prior to the election a $46 billion projected deficit for 1993-94. Even after being presented with it, did the government back off and say it was going to change its plans? Was it going to do something different because it was new and different news? No. The government said that it made it more difficult but it was going to keep its commitment to Canadians over the next three years of 3 per cent of gross domestic product. The government is not going to back off. It is going to carry forward on the commitments made in the red book that all members of the House have held up from time to time and referred to by section and page. It was well read across Canada. It probably was the most well read book in 1993 and we are extremely pleased by that.
The bottom line is that every decision the government has taken is looked at in light of what it would do to create an atmosphere in the country that gives our business sector an opportunity to create jobs for the future. We stated that up front, first and foremost, and we are backing it up today. We are going to continue to announce programs with that specific purpose in mind.
I cannot imagine why that is something anyone should be ashamed of, as some opposition members mentioned earlier. I am extremely proud to be working with the Minister of Finance. We will certainly continue to work with him in that endeavour.
Now is the time for the government, all members of the House and all other Canadians to work together. We have to continue to build confidence in our people and confidence in business and industry. They are the people who will create jobs in the future. Since February 22, the date the budget was brought down, that has been certainly brought forward to the people in my constituency and many other constituencies across the country. A new and modern Canada will see an opportunity for young people. This plan will bring back hope to Canadians, hope for their futures and the futures of their families.
During the recent break we had a couple of weeks ago I had an opportunity to meet with many people across my constituency in public meetings. Their comments were very positive. They were saying: "You are on the right track. Keep going in that direction. It is a good balance. It is a balanced budget. We think we can make it work". They had the confidence we want to see.
On arriving in Ottawa I am sure everyone in the House, especially the new members, had heard about our perks. One of the first things the government did was to look at the so-called perks. I have never had an opportunity to use low priced shoe shine outlets or to have low priced haircuts. Maybe that is obvious today. I have never had the opportunity to have free gymnasium workouts or masseurs. That was one of the things the government said first and foremost would be gone with one mighty slash.
In comparison to a projected $46 billion deficit, $5 million may not sound like much but to me $5 million is a lot of money. To my constituents $5 million is a lot of money. I believe to most Canadians $5 million is a lot of money. That is the amount the action of eliminating those perks is projected to save Canadian taxpayers during the next year. There is a lot more to be done, no question about that, but we have to continue moving forward with input and consultation with the citizens of the country. When we start working together that is when we start making accomplishments, that is when we start getting action and that is when we start building an economy and getting people back to work.
I am not embarrassed by the fact that every decision the government has made is based on creating the opportunity for jobs. I am proud of the Minister of Finance and proud of this government. I am proud to continue working with this government toward that goal.