Mr. Speaker, we will continue in Reform to split our time.
I am pleased to rise in the House today to address Reform's opposition day motion. I am also pleased to be here as a member of a team that has the gumption, the fortitude and the imagination to come forward with an alternative budget ahead of the government's own. It indicates to Canadians and to the House there are better ways of doing business and getting us out of the crisis we are fast approaching.
For the benefit of people who have just tuned in I would like to read the motion of the day: "That this House reject this government's totally inadequate target which reduces the deficit to 3 per cent of GDP within two years and will leave Canada at the end of this period with a federal deficit of about $25 billion, a federal debt of over $600 billion and $50 billion in annual interest payments and higher taxes".
The operative word is that we reject the government's target. Many in the House may ask what is the purpose of our motion. Is it simply partisan politics? I will admit there is a political overtone to our motion. However, its purpose is anything but partisan.
Its purpose, if adopted as a motion, would be to show to Canadians and to the international financial markets that the government is serious about getting its debt under control. This is a very important goal because Canadians must know that any sacrifices they may be asked to make as a result of the upcoming budget are designed to take a serious bite out of the staggering debt and deficit situation. It is also important to show international financial markets that the government understands the severity of the fiscal situation and is prepared to take concrete action to deal with it.
In November the prestigious C. D. Howe Institute issued a report urging the government to move faster in the area of deficit reduction. It said the target of 3 per cent of GDP was not acceptable to the money markets. We now see that this sentiment is shared by other influential members of the financial community. To the consternation of members across the way, last week Moody's bond rating agency announced that it is reviewing Canada's AAA credit rating. In fact it was probably to the consternation of all Canadians. News of this review caused the dollar to fall and interest rates to climb. We simply cannot afford this type of reaction to the government's relative inaction.
We must renounce the government's shortsighted and inadequate deficit reduction plan by adopting the motion that is before the House today.
Why do I say that we can no longer afford to follow the government's reduction plan? It is because the problem is of such a size that we can no longer afford to ignore it. We ignore it at our peril.
That problem is a projected annual deficit of approximately $40 billion, which incidentally is about the same size as the debt financing we are paying. Think what we could do with $40 billion to spend on programs. We have to bring the deficit under control. This deficit of $40 billion will get added to the national debt, which is now more than $550 billion. It is a debt which is growing by more than $1,400 every second of every day.
The government's idea of deficit reduction is to trim a $40 billion shortfall to $25 billion. It is not enough.
Currently each Canadian taxpayer is in debt over $39,000, while the debt of every man, woman and child in this country is more than $19,000. They need relief and they need it now. We cannot afford to wait longer for the government to get serious about deficit reduction, or should I say deficit elimination.
I hope that I have established the need for us to act. I would now like to offer the government some suggestions as to how to reduce the deficit. If it does not want to take the time to go into the taxpayers' budget, here are a few things from my particular area.
First, we must get hold of the deficit by spending reductions and not by tax increases. We have said that over and over again but I think we have to say it over and over again. Canadians are already taxed to the max and they cannot, nor should they, tolerate tax increases of any type. There are many places where the government can cut back on its spending. I would like to focus on an area for which I happen to be the spokesperson in our party, official languages.
My Liberal colleagues will no doubt shudder at the idea of trimming anything having to do with official languages. However, given our dire financial straits we can no longer afford to feed this sacred cow with the same unbridled abandon that we have for almost the past 26 years.
Just before I detail the cuts I propose, I would like to state very clearly again that Reform supports the use of two official languages in Canada. We believe Canadians have a right to receive services from key federal institutions where there is a justifiable demand. That is why later today I will be calling on the Standing Joint Committee on Official Languages to support my motion which would ensure people in minority language communities get the services they are entitled to from the federal government in the language of their choice.
People have a right to these services but, at the same time, all Canadians have a right to have their tax dollars spent wisely. This is why I believe we can reduce spending in this area without sacrificing minority language rights such as services to the public.
I have reviewed the more than $600 million in annual official, official languages spending. I say official because there appears to be more spending in this area which does not appear in the official documentation so I am just looking at the nominal book value of $600 million. I have been working on this for over a year so I know there is much more there that is out of view but I have not been able to put my finger on it yet.
My research shows that we can save roughly $300 million in a year by making the following changes to current government spending practices. This is only $300 million, but if we get $300 million here, $300 million somewhere else and $300 somewhere else we have $1 billion. If we keep doing that we can come up with the answers.
First, I propose a savings of $80 million by trimming the amount the government gives to the provinces for second language education. Education, as we all know, is a provincial jurisdiction and the federal government should stop meddling in this area. Much of this money is used for programs such as French immersion, which has in itself been called into question by several noted scholars, including Professor Hammerly of Simon Fraser University. Federal funding of immersion has also resulted in the creation of a two-tiered education system in many districts. This in itself is a good reason to discontinue this funding.
However, coupled with our desperate need to get our finances in order, it is an area of spending which must be eliminated. Under my proposal over three years we would save federal taxpayers more than $240 million.
Another area we can save in is the promotion of official languages. This program costs us more than $41 million in the current fiscal year. We can support official language groups in communities without spending copious amounts of money to do so.
I had better wind up by saying that the government's deficit reduction policy is inadequate. It is not enough to tackle our serious debt problem and it is not enough to inspire confidence among Canadians or the international money markets.
I urge the government to take this situation very seriously. We will try to help by offering suggestions such as I have just done as to the areas where we can cut.
I support the motion and I urge members and the government to do likewise.