Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House to debate the hon. member's motion. The hon. member says our social security programs are failing. I fail to see how the hon. member arrived at that conclusion.
Before we began reviewing our social security system we heard from Canadians loud and clear. They wanted us to retain these programs, programs that are interwoven into the social fabric of Canada. That hardly suggests failure. It does not mean, however, that Canadians thought we should just leave them as is.
The government recognized social security programs have served us well for many years but that it was time for an overhaul. It was time to make them relative to the needs of the population of the 1990s. That is why we undertook, with the support of the majority of Canadians, the first step in the process of social security reform.
Hon. members are well aware that we carried out massive consultations across the country. The Minister of Human Resources Development and the Standing Committee on Human Resources Development listened to the views of Canadians from all walks of life. More than 600 groups expressed their opinions on social security reform.
To break it down briefly for hon. members, 20,000 Canadians took part in more than 200 town hall meetings held by MPs from all parties. More than 40,000 people completed and returned social security reform workbooks. We held a series of seminars where there was broad public discussion in 25 communities across the nation. The Minister of Human Resources Development has received more than 3,000 letters from citizens expressing their views on social security reform. Over 7,000 people have accessed the minister's Internet bulletin board on social security reform and more than 35,000 people have called the social security reform hotline to request information or material.
Hon. members will also recall that some of the hearings were rambunctious affairs, to say the least. While it is true that those who voice strong opinions may indicate disagreement with some program policy, one thing it certainly does not indicate is
complacency. Canadians care about their social security programs.
The government realizes it must move ahead with social security reform in a timely and orderly fashion. The budget confirms this point. We know from the excellent budget presented by the Minister of Finance, a budget that is getting higher ratings than "Hockey Night in Canada", that Canadians agree reform of our social security system is moving in the right direction.
We said from the beginning that meaningful social security reform could only take place in the context of a responsible fiscal framework. The budget has given us that framework. The budget clarifies that effective reform of our social security programs is absolutely essential, given that we must operate with limited financial resources. Let me put to rest the unfounded rumours that social security reform is dead. It is anything but dead.
Here is where we are at. We have completed the very successful consultation process. The government is now studying the excellent report of the standing committee. Now that the budget has given us the fiscal parameters within which to operate, the next phase is to carefully develop an overall design.
In other words, it is time for the architecture. The architecture comes before we start rebuilding the programs. It is a logical process. We need to develop a new structure before we abandon the old or the current one. A key part of the process will be consultations between the Minister of Human Resources Development and the provinces. These consultations will seek to establish national principles.
The government believes that Canadians are equal in every part of this great nation. We will strive to ensure that national principles apply to social security programs for all citizens.
Canadians told us that one of the key areas for reform was the unemployment insurance program. Using the input we have received we intend to develop proposals for the UI program that take into account the views of hardworking men and women.
We have already begun to act. Hon. members will recall that the government had enough foresight last year to make provisions that began January 1 of this year. If the government had not acted, UI premiums would have risen to $3.30. Instead they were reduced to $3. It is estimated that the payroll tax relief will create or preserve 40,000 jobs. We will be able to put additional savings from UI reform toward improved employment development services.
There is more good news on the reduction of UI premiums. The economy is performing extremely well and we have every reason to believe it will continue to do so. For that reason we expect to reduce premiums again, possibly next year but certainly by 1997. I want to stress, however, that the government has not yet determined the amount of any cut to the premium rate. The figures we read in the press are only forecasting estimates.
We plan to move ahead with UI reform this fall. As the budget clearly stated, we intend to have new UI legislation in effect no later than July 1, 1996. It is true that we are shooting for at least a 10 per cent target reduction in program expenditure. How fast we reach that target will depend upon the continued good health of the economy. It will depend upon program details that UI officials are currently working on.
While reform of the social security system is an ongoing process, we know it will function more effectively and with significantly reduced administrative costs as part of the new Canada social transfer. The popularity of the budget tells me that Canadians are very excited about the innovative possibilities and the flexibility that the provinces will have to address the needs of their particular residents under CST.
Again I stress national principles and objectives will be very much a part of the new Canada social transfer. The Minister of Human Resources Development will be inviting all provincial governments to work together on developing a set of shared principles and objectives to provide a solid framework for the new CST. This is one way that all governments can reaffirm their commitment to the social well-being of Canadians.
I think all hon. members will agree that the best form of social security is a well paying, rewarding job. Social security reform is very much a part of the government's job and growth agenda.
With that in mind the Minister of Human Resources Development is bringing together the current programs that support Canadians in preparing for and attaining employment. They will be consolidated into a new human resources investment fund. The fund will pool resources from existing programs to develop a more coherent approach, establish priorities and make use of the best tools available to ensure Canadian workers find stable employment.
The human resources investment fund will take a hard look at the role of the federal government. We will ask ourselves what we should be doing and determine the best way to eliminate overlap and duplication. Streamlining and consolidation will mean some savings in the coming two fiscal years. The result will be that federal employment related programs will make the most efficient use of available resources.
The new programming will recognize clear and distinct roles for the federal government and the provinces. We will co-operate with the provinces to deliver services effectively and at the lowest cost possible to Canadian taxpayers. Together we can
ensure that Canadians are capable of functioning at a high level in the rapidly expanding global economy.
We all know that today's motion is based on the ill conceived quasi-budget of the Reform Party and that document in turn owed more than a little to the Reform minority report on social security reform which contained proposals that the member proposing today's motion conceded were not thought through very well before they were rushed into print.
I am most concerned by the Reform's so-called proposals. After examining them it is clear to me that these are old knee-jerk ideas that would move us backward, not forward. I cannot see how Reform's proposals would help Canadians find meaningful employment and reduce social ills such as child poverty.
The Reform Party has come up with the catchy title "Taxpayers' Budget". However when Canadian taxpayers get a close look at it they will see that if we adopted it taxpayers are the ones who would be snagged.
First let us look at the subject of today's motion, the registered personal security plan or RPSP. As I understand it, Reform wants to replace UI, OAS, CPP and some health, education and training programs with an individually based savings plan. This means that when sickness or unemployment strike or when they take their retirement, Canadians will be expected to rely on their own means and the risk pooling features of our current social programs would disappear.
Obviously lower income Canadians would be much more adversely affected by the proposal. I can see nothing in it except for the very well off who would have yet another instrument for feathering their nest egg.
Next let us take Reform's proposals for UI. The party suggests cutting $3.4 billion from the UI program. That is easy to do on paper but the result in real terms would phase out maternity, parental and sickness benefits as well as the fishermen's program. The measure alone would take away maternity benefits from more than 160,000 new mothers, sickness benefits from 150,000 workers who are temporarily unemployed, and badly needed benefits for 30,000 fishermen.
Who will shoulder the burden to help these individuals? Removing regional benefits would affect 1.3 million unemployed workers, which is more than 50 per cent of UI claimants. The Reform Party would slash income support by $4.5 billion. This blanket insensitive approach would drain billions out of the provincial economies-hardly what I would call a responsible move.
This is not what Canadians want. As I have already outlined the government intends to revitalize its UI program. We need to look carefully at how and why people use unemployment insurance and then make adjustments accordingly. We will not wipe out key social benefits like those for maternity leave.
The Reform Party tries to put forward a social conscience with its principle of equality contributions. Its taxpayers' budget states the burden of reduction must fall least heavily on the most vulnerable members of society.
There is no doubt that all hon. members share those sentiments. The trouble is Reform's proposals would have exactly the opposite effect. Instead of helping those most in need, the taxpayers' budget would cut seniors' pensions by $3 billion. How will this measure help vulnerable seniors meet the cost of living?
Reform also proposes that the government eliminate all regional differentiation. How will this help the poorest regions of the country? It also suggests cutting aboriginal programs by 24 per cent. Someone will have to explain to me how this measure will help our aboriginal brothers and sisters who are quite possibly the neediest group in Canada.
The Reform Party's budget suggests cutting the Canada assistance plan transfer payments by 34 per cent and equalization payments by $3 billion, a 35 per cent cut. If the government did that I acknowledge it would certainly lessen the burden on federal coffers. Unfortunately it would devastate the poorest regions of the country. It would place the burden of deficit reduction on the most vulnerable members of society. It would contradict Reform's stated philosophy.
Cuts like these would not renew our social security system. They would outright destroy it. Reform's approach to deficit reduction is simply reckless. It is easy to be reckless when one is not in the driver's seat.
What about the proposal to slash $3 billion from seniors' pensions? The Reform does not provide any details on this proposal maybe because if it had done so it would have had to tell elderly Canadians that more than half of them would see their benefits cut and low income seniors would be among the losers.
The government's approach is to review the needs of seniors into the next century and determine how best to meet those needs. We are not saying there should be no changes. We have never said that. However, a responsible government examines the repercussions of changes before taking action, and that is what we are doing.
Reform wants to replace old age security and the Canada pension plan with an RRSP and registered personal security plan system. The concept has already been tried in the United States. It is called a personal bank account. It actually works very well provided one is fortunate enough to be wealthy. Those less fortunate are out in the cold.
The Liberal Party's policy is for a sound and efficient income system that provides a balance between public pensions and private arrangements. In other words, the government's philoso-
phy on retirement combines realism with compassion, something the Reform Party should thing about.
The Reform Party should also think its proposals through before presenting them and should come clean on how much impact it would have on the lives of Canadians and the social fabric of this great nation.
The government certainly welcomes constructive suggestions from hon. members on the opposite side of the House. The proposals we see in the Reform Party's taxpayers' budget are so poorly thought out that it simply does not give us anything valid to work with.
The popularity of the budget by the Minister of Finance speaks for itself. Canadians recognize that in order to retain strong, viable social programs we have to find the financial resources to fund them. That is why Canadians support the direction the government is taking. With the Canada social transfer we are entering a new era of social policy that will streamline our social security system and bring us into the 21st century.
As a nation that enjoys one of the highest standards of living, there is no doubt in my mind Canadians reject the simplistic notion embodied in today's motion. They know the government is committed to the renewal of Canada's great legacy of social programs. I am sure they share my belief that the Reform Party is in no position to enact the motion before us today.