Madam Speaker, I am deeply honoured to speak to Bill C-73, a bill to provide borrowing authority for the fiscal year beginning April 1, 1995. It will allow for the borrowing of funds by the finance minister, on approval of cabinet, to finance a shrinking annual deficit for the coming fiscal year.
I begin by extending my sincere congratulations to the Minister of Finance for a budget which has won the confidence of not only the international markets but also, and more importantly, of all Canadians. The budget displays a firm commitment to Canadian values by promoting jobs and growth and by protecting the most vulnerable Canadians by looking to government first for action. The deficit is primarily being dealt with through spending cuts in a 7:1 ratio over the next three years. This means spending cuts will amount to $7 for every $1 in revenue increase.
The budget, with its emphasis on fairness, has looked to spending cuts rather than personal income taxes to achieve its goals. We heard the Canadians who told us not to raise income tax and we have not. The budget is fair. The budget closes loopholes and tax breaks for the rich. It focuses on those who are able to contribute more and asks them to do so, like the banks. We all must contribute. It does not increase taxes for the middle class.
The budget is fair to all regions of the country. The Minister of Finance has taken great care to ensure that cutbacks to the different regions are distributed fairly and equitably. Our fiscal problem is a national one. All regions need to contribute to the diminution of our fiscal problem. We must work together.
Aspects of the budget such as the Canada social transfer will enhance the flexibility of the federal system by allowing provinces to determine to a greater degree how best they can meet their specific needs while retaining a role for the national government.
I must commend the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food for working very hard on behalf of Canada's farmers through a very difficult budgetary process. We all recognize that every Canadian must share in the reduction of the deficit. Canadian farmers are not excluded from this effort. They have shown a willingness to participate before, they have shown resilience before, and I am certain they realize the necessity of the changes before us.
Spending has been reduced. However, farmers have always said that given good opportunities they would prefer not to be subsidized. Farmers are ready to adapt and succeed and they will again. These changes outlined in the budget affecting grain transport, income support and stabilization, trade, marketing, research, adaptation and rural development will reduce the cost to government but they will also improve efficiency and competitiveness to encourage economic diversification, value added production and processing. This will give farmers the opportunities they have always wanted.
In Saskatchewan the transportation subsidy known as the Crow rate provided cheap transportation of raw agricultural products but it also created an economy of dependence and inefficiency and in some cases was detrimental to the environment.
We needed to change the way we think about subsidies and transportation, not least because of the realities of the World Trade Organization which limits trade distorting subsidies. Farmers need to take a leading role in adhering to the principles of the World Trade Organization. I know that European and American subsidies will also decline. It is my view that Canada has much more to gain than lose when dealing on a level playing field because Canadian farmers have the highest quality products and are already the most efficient in the world.
Our priorities are cost efficiency and effectiveness in growing, moving and selling grain. Farmers will benefit from this and they will become more and more able to determine their own financially secure futures. Their reduced reliance on subsidies means that governments will be able to focus in an efficient and effective way on the things that government does best, providing assistance for people to adjust to the changing times and providing information on new markets and new production opportunities.
We will not leave the farmers to adjust to this change alone. They will receive a one time payment of $1.6 billion to assist them in the transition.
Our fiscal realities must be addressed. The government has faced these challenges fairly and in every area. Reduced spending is the golden opportunity for economic growth. Reduced spending helps to be more acutely aware of local economic opportunities and less enamoured with regulation and control where it is not necessary.
Let me share two examples from my riding of Prince Albert-Churchill River where relaxation of government regulations will allow and promote economic growth and jobs.
First, at the federal level the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation has a monopoly at present over the marketing and processing of freshwater fish. In the past this served the fishermen well, but it has outlived its usefulness. The government must break inefficient monopolies like this one. In doing so a local fish processing plant within the riding will bring jobs and growth to the area and give greater support to northern fishermen with better prices for raw product.
Second, at the provincial level SaskPower has a monopoly over the generation of electrical energy in Saskatchewan. If this monopoly is allowed to be opened up in a sensible way, local initiatives could react more quickly and efficiently, and provide electrical energy at reduced rates. Weyerhauser Canada would be able to build an electrical co-generation plan which would make it more competitive while maintaining exacting environmental standards and enhancing environmental protection.
This may open the door for the further expansion of Weyerhauser's pulp and paper production capacity. The possibilities for economic spin-offs are great. These initiatives mean jobs, they mean growth and they mean a prosperous Prince Albert-Churchill River.
We must strike a healthy balance for the role of government in economic development. We must facilitate growth and allow for local initiatives to flourish. We must provide the context for a dynamic and innovative economy, unimpeded by the dinosaurs that have monopolized the economy in the past.
Governments cannot afford to be economic and social dictators any more. They can afford to be enablers of growth, enablers of individual community, provincial and national creativity, economically and socially from coast to coast.
Too much government money has created in us the belief that government can fix everything. It cannot. It has created economic and social dependency. The budget and this bill have set Canada on a course where people will be free to succeed. They will be free to build that sense of community, of caring and sharing that has been eroded by the misplaced belief that government can and must do everything. Governments will now be free to be true partners with one another and the people, a partnership that will result in economic growth and an even greater feeling of compassion and community.
Yes, we are all responsible one for the other. Because we borrow less money, because we use less money, we shall be free to prosper together and to help one another.
Once again, my sincere congratulations to the finance minister who has done a great job with a great budget.