Mr. Speaker, as I rise to debate this borrowing bill, I must flag a historic event for the House. We have finally witnessed a budget that, however timid, at least attempts to cut federal spending in real terms.
It has been decades since we have seen this kind of budget and it marks a great victory for the Reform Party of Canada. This budget would have been unheard of only a few years ago. It indicates a stunning conversion on the part of the Liberal Party.
I am delighted the financial markets have reacted positively so that things may go well for our country. Above all, I wish for prosperity and stability for Canada. When that happens I am pleased, no matter who brings down the budget.
However, just as a leopard cannot change its spots, I cannot believe the Liberals have really been converted. The budget was an act of pure necessity, not something done out of the courage of their convictions. The Liberals did the bare minimum they could in order to avert a national financial disaster. Had he had his way, the Prime Minister would have increased spending and taxes even more than he did. He said as much on the CBC program "Morningside" yesterday.
In this respect there is no denying that the presence of the Reform Party of Canada in this House is a bulwark in defence of the taxpayer, a stronghold of protection of the public interest. The Reform Party, working with Canadian taxpayers, can take the credit for this change in direction.
Fifty-two members of this House put sustained pressure for a year and one-half on this government to reduce spending. The government finally responded by adopting a plank from the Reform Party agenda, just as it adopted the agenda of the NDP when that party was a factor in this House.
Although the Liberals have formed the government, there is a new game in town. Today the government is forced to respond to the criticisms from a fiscally responsible opposition, no longer from the loonie left. They still form the government and they still have the numbers in this House to pass any laws they choose, but they no longer possess the moral or political mandate from the people to complete their leftist agenda. The political mandate is passing to the Reform Party of Canada. The Reform Party is now driving the national policy agenda. In that reality, I take great satisfaction.
There is so much more left to be done. So much of the public interest was ignored in this budget. The government went half way, but it could not bear to bring itself all the way in order to defend our economy, to defend our social programs and our future prosperity. I am truly dismayed by several aspects of this budget. All things politically correct were left virtually untouched.
My constituents have indicated clearly, for example, that they want the CBC to be downsized by two-thirds. Instead, it was cut by 4 per cent. Through an extensive survey process my constituents told me that they want the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development to be substantially reduced. Instead, the government increased that budget by 12 per cent. Special interest groups are left virtually untouched. The Canada Council was cut by a mere 2 per cent. The National Film Board was cut by just 5 per cent.
I find it disgusting that the government can go ahead and cut UI but not make dramatic reductions to these other agencies. The government has not dealt equitably with the people of Canada in leaving so many institutions unscathed. How can the Liberals start cutting our social safety nets when they refuse first to abolish their own gold plated MP pension plan?
Many budget items simply reflect the power of individual ministers. Why did Cape Breton Development Corporation receive a 69 per cent increase? The fact that it is in the riding of the Minister of Public Works and Government Services may have something to do with it. Why will CIDA be downsized by only 30 people? The Minister of Foreign Affairs swings a lot of weight in cabinet.
As I have already stated, this budget was not about fairness. It is not that I am in disagreement with all of its decisions, but the hypocrisy of this budget makes me question everything the government says. This budget was all about broken promises. The examples are legion.
The government promised never to change the workforce adjustment directive without union consent. It is breaking it. It promised massive changes to social programs. There are none, though there must now be massive changes down the road. It promised not to increase taxes on the middle class but it did it anyway. It promised to reform the GST, but the GST is unchanged. The Prime Minister was to repudiate the NAFTA. Today he praises it. He promised to increase foreign aid to .7 per cent of GDP. On Monday he slashed it by $500 million.
Two years ago the Reform party proposed cutbacks in the public service totalling 30,000 to 35,000 employees, cutbacks which would have been over and done with by now. The Liberals called us callous and uncaring. Now they are gleefully laying off 45,000 public servants. The Minister responsible for Public Service Renewal says that even more layoffs are in the works. That is callous and uncaring.
Farmers will remember the broken promises. Remember how the Liberals would never sign the GATT without strengthening article XI(2)(c). They signed it anyway. Western grain farmers lost the Crow subsidy. They can add to that a new fuel tax and major cuts to farm programs in the agriculture department itself.
This government quite happily kicked farmers in the teeth, but not until after it had won the election. Farmers are willing to do their part, but if cuts in other areas were as serious as the agricultural cuts, we would now have a balanced budget within our sights.
My own constituency is presently facing a grave economic situation because of this budget. It will take a hit all out of proportion to its own numbers. The Hope weather station will be closed next month. More important, Canadian Forces Base Chilliwack in my riding will be closed over the next four years. This will mean $105 million or 7 per cent of all economic activity in Chilliwack will be cut out.
Perhaps the Minister of Finance did not see the study that was released on Monday. It showed that in terms of regional distribution, British Columbia gets $700 million per year less than it should, given its share of the population. Again, we are ready and willing to make sacrifices in B.C., but why would the government increase the regional disparity by taking $100 million more out of British Columbia?
With the possible exception of Cold Lake, Alberta, there is no community in Canada that will suffer more from this budget than Chilliwack. And the Liberals call that fair? I call it shameful. The people of B.C. will one day pass judgment on Liberal policy.
No longer will there be a land forces presence west of the Rocky Mountains. In the case of a natural disaster or civil disorder there will no longer be that natural resource that the people of B.C. can count on. This is short-sighted. It is bad policy in a civil, military and an economic sense. The third largest province in Canada deserves better.
Now I must come to the bill before us. The fatal weakness of the budget is that this bill will work great harm in Canada. In two years Canada will pay $51 billion in interest alone. Program spending will decline to $108 billion and interest payments will increase to half of our program spending. That borrowing bill is nothing more than an enormous social program for foreign investors.
The Minister of Finance decries the Reform taxpayers' budget, but Reform alone faces up to the truth. Because of the interest payments on our national debt, the frightening prospect of the total destruction of many of these programs is looming
directly ahead. We are choking the life out of them by continuing to run huge budget deficits.
After all the Liberal fanfare, the deficit is still huge. It will still be $25 billion two years from now. By then we could well be in the middle of a recession. The American economy is already showing signs of a slowdown. If that continues, or if it happens, our economy will be in a meltdown.
The Minister of Finance criticizes Reformers for suggesting that we adjust social programs now while there is time. In the next breath the government admits it is conducting its own study into the pension situation. By the time it screws up its own courage to act, the cuts it will make to old age pensions will truly be devastating. They will leave seniors in real poverty.
The Liberals can see the numbers as well as anyone. They know what needs to be done to protect our social programs in the future, but they are going to put off action because they do not have the guts to make the tough decisions today. In fact they will heap abuse on Reform suggestions, even if these suggestions are in the public interest, even if they are quietly undertaking to do exactly the same things themselves in an underhanded way.
Last week I tabled a petition with 20,000 names, calling for no new taxes. In a few days I will table 13,000 more names. I personally delivered 2,000 letters from my constituents to the office of the Minister of Finance calling upon him to balance the budget without raising taxes. These people did not get their wish. Canadians wanted a timetable for a balanced budget but the government failed to deliver.
There are simple tests of good government: conscientious control of the public purse; a strong clear vision of and commitment to the public interest that reaches far into the future; attention to regional fairness; and equitable reductions in government spending. I am disappointed that the government has failed these tests.
This budget has failed the Canadian people. No matter how well it is accepted by the markets in the short term, the numbers predict our future in the long term. The government had a chance to mend our social safety net on Monday, but through Bill C-73 it will allow interest payments to tear it to shreds over the coming years.
Shame on the government that it has squirrelled away the past year and a half making budget balancing all that much more tougher than it needed to be. It is a shame it is planning to saddle our nation with another $90 billion in new debt, a debt which will be a pox on our social programs, a curse on our taxation levels, a drag on our job creating businesses and a millstone around the necks of our children and grandchildren, forever and ever, amen.