Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity which has been given to all members of the House to speak freely on their concerns about the upcoming budget and to provide advice to the Minister of Finance as he works toward bringing down a budget for 1996-97.
Clearly the concerns of my constituents, like those of people throughout Canada, are on the tremendous debt and deficit and the kind of future we are leaving to our children if we do not deal with the debt and deficit.
Having sat in Parliament since 1988, having listened to budget after budget in which targets were set for deficit reduction and for bringing the debt under control, and having never seen those targets met while the deficit and debt increased, I am pleased to note the success our government has had in meeting and exceeding its targets for deficit reduction.
Some argue we should be going faster and doing more. They advocate in the name of deficit reduction destroying many of the programs which reflect Canadian values, many of the programs we regard as defining ourselves as a nation; our commitment to look after those in need, our commitment to sharing as a society with our fellow citizens and among the different regions of the country.
Canada has never looked only to its own self-interests. We have recognized that a child in a small poor community in Newfoundland has as much right to be educated and fed as a child growing up in a well-off neighbourhood in downtown Toronto.
What we have tried to do and what my constituents continue to urge me to do is balance deficit reduction with societal values. We need to continue to develop a country which is concerned about its human resources as well as its fiscal resources. While we do not want to leave our children a debt that they cannot manage, neither do we want to leave them a meaner society that they will not want to live in. That is the difference between us and some of the measures advocated by others, notably by the Reform Party in this House.
I want to speak about a couple of other issues. The government has been committed to pension reform, to ensuring that in the future we will be able to meet the commitments to pensions for seniors, to pensions working Canadians have built up over their years of work so that they do not enter retirement in poverty. I want to urge the government to take into account, as it does that, the need for fairness and for equity among different groups in society, between men and women and to start correcting some of those economic inequities that have marked western society.
I want to mention the CBC which ties our nation together and gives us a sense of identity and a better understanding of ourselves. My constituents are concerned about the cuts which have been, in their view, diminishing the ability of the CBC to fulfil its mandate to the nation.
Above all I want to refer to the continuing importance my constituents put on the need for jobs, for the kind of economy that will allow young people to use their talents. I also want to refer to the importance of the announcement made in terms of keeping our commitment to child care so that women with children, families with children, are not prevented by the interests of their children, by the interests of providing good care for their children from participating in the economy.