Mr. Speaker, I thank the third party for bringing the motion to the floor of the House, beginning with its press conference at nine o'clock this morning.
I will be very measured in my response. It is very rare that I can be so angered as a parliamentarian with the presentation of a case by the opposition parties. However when one cuts corners to the extent of deluding Canadians about the task that faces us, it is something that all parliamentarians should take seriously and look at closely.
This is an opportunity for Canada to turn the corner. I do not think any of us discount the anger felt by taxpayers and Canadians in general about the nature of the debt we now face. As a government we have undertaken with a great deal of pride and deliberation to ensure that our deficit is under control. We are the first government to set targets. We are the first government to meet its targets. We have approached the problem with a reasonable determination to succeed. We believe Canadians want success in deficit reduction more than anything else.
It comes as no surprise to anybody in the House that this debt is one that tragically encumbers our ability to be successful as a government. Speaking on behalf of the government, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, we will succeed in these objectives.
In this context we have an opposition party that has sought to play with fire. Those of us who have been in Parliament for a while all know what happens when a parliamentarian plays with fire. Scenarios and perceptions are created perhaps deliberately or not deliberately that are simply false. People are given the
impression that a solution is just around the corner or that a solution is merely writing things off with the stroke of a pen.
I come from a very poor constituency. I have seen families in economic difficulty. The hardest thing is to say to them: "Things are not likely to be better for one or two years, but if you really stick to this poor paying job and your family gets an education things will be better". It is hope for a better future that makes us all work together as Canadians.
We cannot go to families encumbered by a lot of debt and say: "In two or three months things are going be fine". We cannot tell Canadians that in one or two years things are going to be fine because I do not think they will be all better within two years. Do I think it will be better in the near future? I actually think that. The government believes that and will work toward that objective.
Let me refer to some small items. The non-votable motion before us takes the government to task for its deficit reduction targets "within two years". The taxpayers' budget, the so-called document of the Reform Party, talks about three years. On the one hand we have set out a two-year program. We have been silent on the third year except to say, again in a very determined fashion, that we will meet the new targets we set. Those targets will get us closer and closer to a balanced budget.
By this sleight of hand the leader of the third party talks about his three-year plan and juxtaposes it with our two-year plan to get within 3 per cent of GNP. That is the unfair nature of the document.
I have another point. He opened his address this morning and very carefully chose not to be in Parliament where he could be criticized and subject to scrutiny such as the Minister of Finance will be next week or the week after or whenever the budget is presented. He very publicly said that we must not be subject to the $40 billion of debt that we borrow from foreigners each year.
We did not go to the debt market for $40 billion. The opposition critic and his assistants who he very nicely complimented during his speech know that under Bill C-14 our borrowing limit was far below $40 billion. We have not come back for an amendment. At no time this year did we say we would be borrowing $40 billion. In fact, if last month continues to be as suitable as the first 11 months of the fiscal year, it will probably be closer to $30 billion under Bill C-14. That is either poor research or a deliberate effort to tell Canadians something that is substantially not what it is.
The opposition party also plays footloose with the tragedy that happened to the Mexican economy and the difficult remarks made by Moody's last week. It takes glee in telling us: "I told you so. We are almost a basket case".
Does the party opposite realize the cost to Canadian homeowners? Does the House realize the cost to the housing market or the price we all pay because of these international factors? We should not take with pride that the Mexican economy collapses. We should not join the chorus of the Wall Street Journal and some editorial writer saying: ``We think Canada is just like Mexico''.
When the opposition party puts that into public record, some researcher in a Wall Street office or over in London looks it up and says: "Gee whiz, there are parliamentarians in Canada who think Canada is like Mexico". That is the finance critic. Then interest rates go up another half a per cent or another per cent. The housing market gets into difficulty. Families find it difficult. Credit card rates go up and we are charged greater prices. Then they can turn around in April, May or June and say: "See, I told you that you were getting into difficulty". That is essentially irresponsible.
The opposition party went through its taxpayers' budget and it went through $10 billion of cutbacks in government programs. I thank that party, as I did during the finance committee hearings, for the directness and willingness to work on the issue. The finance minister and the government in program review are looking for significant ways to cut federal expenditures. As I said in my opening remarks, we will not in any way, shape or form back off from the objectives we have set ourselves.
There is an honest way of doing it and there are other ways of doing it. Let me suggest one point. The top item all of us on this side agree with is to reform MPs' pension plan, eliminate excessive travel of federal officials and reduce the number of ministers of state and parliamentary secretaries for a savings of $10 million. Now $10 million is a lot of money. Everybody knows that the pension plan produces no savings in the next three years. There are roughly 20 parliamentary secretaries and we all get the grand sum of $10,000. That would save $200,000. The ministers of state get a bit more. Let us say the total savings would be $500,000.
That leaves us with $9.5 million for excessive federal travel. The $9.5 million at $1,000 a trip would amount to 9,500 trips every year. That is a lot of unnecessary trips. If we look at each week, it would be 190 trips a week out of the Ottawa International Airport. This is excessive federal travel. If a deputy minister or a minister thought that level of excessive travel was happening, we would find the responsible public servants and politicians reined in. I would argue that this type of oversimplification is what brings the wave of anger across the country on to the floor of Parliament and does not filter as a responsible parliamentarian would what is honestly wrong with the system and what is not.
As long as they play to the crowd that this is corrupt place, a place where people do not work and a place where people try to rip off the system, the country will not feel good about itself.
The major transformation we have to make, which the government has taken to its Prime Minister as the primary responsibility of governing, is to ensure Canadians have confidence in their government, confidence in the way their dollars are being spent and confidence that we have a plan for the future. Each of those objectives is being met by the government. We are not about to roll over and allow cheap criticisms in any way, shape or form to pull us down from this honourable sense of purpose.
Empowering individuals, families and communities: if we read each of these items carefully we see that the Reform is promising tax relief.
Let us go back. We want to balance the budget. One of the most difficult things to do at the federal level is to protect the integrity of the fiscal base of the central government. We are under a lot of pressure. We have an underground economy about which people argue as to its depth. We have many thousands of concerned Canadians voicing their opinions. I received petitions on behalf of newspapers and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation yesterday.
There are many hundreds of thousands of Canadians who are disturbed by their level of taxation. We would be wrong to ignore that in the context of making a budget.
Empowering seniors-long term tax relief or reform. Why do Reformers include that? They announced a $3 billion dollar cutback in payments to seniors within the next three years. I know the member for Kingston and the Islands would be interested to know that they are going to do it after consultation. That means this year is lost. They also do not recognize the fact that the senior population is increasing. If we do not do anything in this government, the actual current levels of expenditures go up because of an increasing population.
They are not taking out $3 billion but $5 billion. That is fair enough, but they should say $5 billion and not say $3 billion. They should do their research to understand how people are being helped and not being helped.
Empowering families: strengthen the capacity of families to care for themselves with tax relief.