Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak to the motion. It was not clear to me in the original motion whether or not the suggestion was being made to put more money into Atlantic Canada. If that is the case we would oppose it.
There is much talk about what Atlantic Canada needs. The proposer of the motion suggested full employment. Whilst full employment would be good for Atlantic Canada, I suggest that it would be good across the country. However the full employment goal will not be achieved. Regardless of how much is spent in the country or how good the opportunities are, full employment is unachievable.
The presenter of the motion also said that regional development policies and programs have been managed from the top down. That is so. ACOA is a prime example. Western Economic Diversification is another example as is FORD-Q.
For labour and communities to co-ordinate how we are to improve the economy in Atlantic Canada is a good avenue, but it is also a good avenue to pursue right across the country. Co-operatives are in existence so these things can happen if the people want them to happen. That kind of activity does not need government intervention.
The mover of the motion suggested the fisheries problems in Atlantic Canada were a result of government bungling. We all know that to be so on both the east coast and west coast. That is unfortunate. The less government we have in the country the better off we will be. To try to increase government is not the way to go.
The proposer of the motion also suggested that young people should not have to leave home. While that again is nice to say, the reality is that young people leave home. Young people go where there is work. Young people leave home for various reasons. To expect young people to stay in Atlantic Canada any more than they do in the towns of Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba or wherever is unrealistic.
I am quite impressed with the skills of the provincial governments in Atlantic Canada. Frank McKenna in New Brunswick impressed the nation with some of his moves to get business into New Brunswick. Clyde Wells in Newfoundland is also making good innovative approaches to improve its economy. That is what really needs to happen. It is up to the people themselves. I do not think the federal government necessarily plays a big role in this activity.
One of the real potentials I see in Atlantic Canada is the cost of land and housing. For example, young people growing up in the area I come from in the lower mainland of British Columbia cannot afford to buy houses or to buy land. It is just too expensive for them. I see the day when young people will be going back to the eastern part of the country. They will look to where there are appropriate housing costs. They will look to where they can buy land, live and raise families. The potential of Atlantic Canada will be much greater in the future because of the natural evolution of the country. As a result of the younger generation moving we will see jobs being created. In areas like the lower mainland of British Columbia we will see an outflow of younger people for that reason.
Where there are successes there are failures. We only have to look at some of the activities of ACOA to see failures in the nation as far as regional development and western economic diversification are concerned. It is a presumption of government that it knows best how to spend our money.
The minister responsible for ACOA recently said that there would be no grants. A lot of that came from the pressure we put on the government. As a result we now have ACOA giving out loans that basically FBDB should be giving out. Why ACOA is not cancelled today is difficult to understand. There are institutions in the country that can look after the affairs ACOA used to look after or the new responsibilities of ACOA. We need not have that bureaucracy in existence.
I look forward to seeing what the Minister of Finance will do next Monday with the operations of ACOA, Western Economic Diversification and FORD-Q if he is truly interested in making some positive changes in the country.
Atlantic Canada needs less government, not more government.
Owners of some businesses who receive grants, and they are the minority of businesses, will not say that. When we really get down to the people who are paying the taxes for the money going to those businesses, they are saying: "Look, we would rather have the money in our pockets. Create businesses and create wealth from our perspective. Don't give it to the friends of the recipients over there".
The hon. member for Moncton talked about infrastructure. He suggested that infrastructure was an investment and not a cost. I have the greatest of difficulty with that philosophy. The infrastructure started by the Liberal government came into place as a result of its commitment to jobs, jobs, jobs.
The Liberals said that they were going to spend $2 billion at the federal level and $2 billion at the provincial level if they chipped in. Also the municipalities were to throw in $2 billion. What was not acknowledged was that there was only one taxpayer paying this money. The government took over a $40 billion deficit, $40 billion of overspending, and then said that it would spend some more. It was going to borrow another $6 billion from taxpayers to start an infrastructure program to show the whole country it could create jobs.
Yes, it did. It created short term jobs. In the long run that is unhealthy for the country. It does not help at all. Only when we have a continuous infrastructure can it be of benefit to the country. We cannot have it continuously because we are borrowing too much money. We have too high a debt load.
It was patently wrong for the hon. member for Moncton to suggest that bad Reformers over here were treating Atlantic Canadians indifferently or incorrectly because they were against infrastructure. The fact is that the infrastructure is not good for taxpayers across the country regardless of what province they live in.
I trust the motion is not asking for more money. I trust it speaks to the fact that Atlantic Canadians can help themselves just like anybody else anywhere in the country. All the more credit to them.
If we want to look at ingenuity in the country we can look at Atlantic Canada where the provinces for years have had less money than many other provinces. They seem to dig down, dig deep, work hard, innovate and come up with answers that many of us across the country should be looking at and following. We should be using some of their initiative. Hats off to Premier
Frank McKenna. He is on the right track as far as any government in the land is concerned.