Mr. Speaker, one of my most rewarding duties as a member of Parliament is to visit schools in my riding and meet with students.
Three weeks ago I participated in such a visit. As usual I found the questions asked by the students quite interesting, the Quebec referendum, unemployment insurance and the environment.
I was struck by a very distressing thought. Each of these students has a huge debt hanging over their head. Because of the size of our national debt, those young students are starting out life with a $19,000 mortgage. Unlike past generations that could build their hopes and dreams on the solid granite of public finances, these young people are building their dreams on quicksand.
I cannot accept that. I entered politics to give a voice to young Canadians too often forgotten by past governments. It is fundamentally unfair to expect young Canadians to pay a debt incurred by past generations. It is particularly irresponsible for Canadians who have lived beyond their means for so many years.
That is why I am so proud to be a member of this government. This is a moment of great importance in our history. For the first time in many years Canada has a government and a finance minister ready to do what must be done in order to control the deficit.
The minister's budget speech was nothing less than a call to arms to all Canadians. We must band together to defeat the deficit and the debt. Steadily, silently these two economic forces are robbing our government of the strength and sapping it of the vitality it needs to foster growth, care for the needy and invest in the future.
For too long governments have postponed tough decisions. For too long governments have been pretending everything was fine while borrowing another $30 billion and $40 billion from our children. Now we have finally turned the corner.
A nation that has been sleep walking toward the precipice of bankruptcy has awakened with one foot on the edge of the cliff. Our government has the will to do what is necessary. As important, it has the support of the Canadian people.
Canadians are willing to support this government because they have seen the positive results of our financial stewardship. In the first year of our mandate 433,000 new jobs were created, all of them full time. Canada's economy grew at about 4.5 per cent, the fastest of the G-7. Manufacturing output is up over 9 per cent and inflation is at its lowest rate in 30 years.
At the local level the results are as encouraging. In Toronto unemployment dropped from 12 per cent to 9 per cent between January 1994 and January 1995. In my area of York region unemployment insurance claims have dropped from 70,491 to 13,773 in the same period.
When I speak to people in my riding I sense a renewed sense of hope, a sense of confidence. Business people are investing again, Canadians are working again.
Canadians know that our recovery will be threatened unless we get our financial house in order. They realize everyone must make sacrifices. Canadians must all share the burden of debt reduction.
Our government will reduce spending but it will also rationalize its operations, targeting spending to where it can do the most good. For every $1 of new tax revenue there will be $7 worth of cuts in expenditure.
Above and beyond deficit targets, this budget is about reinventing government. It clarifies the role of government within a new socioeconomic order in which the old rules do not apply.
To improve Canada's social safety net our government will introduce a number of innovative measures. It will establish the Canada social transfer. The CST will replaced established programs financing and the Canada assistance plan. It will cut unnecessary red tape, ensuring that the provinces will have maximum flexibility to design the programs that meet their needs.
The budget also calls for the creation of a human resources investment fund. The fund would involve a broad approach to employability issues. The functioning of the Canadian labour market would be in congruence with UI reform and the consolidated transfer.
The human resources investment fund could encompass support for a wide range of employment development services including assessment, counselling, training, work experience, self-employment and community development; the development of occupational standards; national labour market information; sectoral councils; child care for working parents; a national workplace strategy; programs and services responsive to the needs of aboriginal Canadians; assistance for persons with disabilities; and assistance for students and adult learners.
The restructuring and redesigning of programs could be based on principles established by the social security reform and linked to increased flexibility in the use of the UI fund. These principles include tailored programs to individual client needs, delivery involving community partners and the private sector, the use of modern technologies, national standards and priorities.
The government intends to reform the UI system to bring it into line with the new economic realities facing the nation. A greater emphasis will be placed on helping Canadians acquire skills and find work. We will move away from traditional UI and focus on investing in people. We will replace despair, dependency and defeatism with ambition, autonomy and advancement.
The government has signalled its intention to protect senior citizens. At present old age security and the guaranteed income supplement cost Canadians over $20 billion a year. It is estimated the cost will increase by 60 per cent over the next 15 years as the population ages. Clearly Canadians would want us to do something about it.
The 1995 budget sets out the principles that will govern the reform of OAS and GIS: undiminished protection for less well off seniors, continuation of full indexation of benefits, OAS benefits to be provided with reference to family income levels, greater progressivity of benefits by income level and control of program costs. This will be a very important step toward achieving intergenerational equity.
These are all positive developments in the evolution of the nation. The budget holds the promise of a better tomorrow. It says to Canadians that the sacrifices we make today are for a greater good. Sound public finances are the bedrock of a prosperous future. Freedom from debt is the greatest legacy we can leave our children.