Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak on Bill C-70. The purpose of the bill is to amend the Income Tax Act because of certain budgetary measures which were taken.
Members of the Reform Party vehemently opposed that budget. We opposed the budget because we felt it did not go far enough. It did not address the situations in the country which threaten every Canadian from coast to coast. Canadian jobs are
threatened, their homes are threatened and their social programs are threatened.
The reason the budget threatened each and every Canadian was due to the economic and fiscal irresponsibility of the government in not addressing the debt and the deficit which increased every year. Furthermore, the budget sought to compromise those in our society who are most vulnerable, those who cannot take care of themselves and those who are most dependent on government largesse.
We in the Reform Party proposed the zero in three plan. We gave the first half of that plan to the government. We said to the government: "Here is a how to plan". It was not something esoteric, it was a how to plan to bring the economic situation under control. We told the government how much to cut and where to cut. Did the government heed that? No.
We gave the second part of the plan to the government and said: "Here is the product of hard work. Here is the product of something which is followed by a great many Canadians. It is a plan which is fiscally responsible and sound. It is a plan which will address the debt and deficit problem". Did the government listen to us? No.
As a result we have the problems of today. Figures came out this week that showed the real income of Canadians has dropped significantly over the last two years. The Canadian dollar has dropped and inflation is rising. As well, the investors of the world have downgraded our bonds. Moody's has downgraded our bonds for the first time ever. If this is not a harbinger of things to come, I do not know what is.
It is unfortunate that the wool has been pulled over Canadians' eyes by a budget which is an illusion. The government told us that it is the first government to cut. That is true. This is the first government to actually make cuts. Let us analyse those cuts.
A third of the cuts which were made truly were cuts and the government deserves credit for that. However, two-thirds of the cuts were made to provincial transfer payments. Whose shoulders did they fall on? The provinces. The provinces also tax the same taxpayers and at the end of the day it is the taxpayers who have to pay.
Whether it is the federal government, the provincial government, or the municipal government people who work hard have a huge amount of their money taken away from them to go to the governments which are in difficult financial situations. Governments have not recognised the situation they are in and continue to spend taxpayers' dollars in an irresponsible fashion.
I plead on behalf of all Canadians that the government take heed and work with us on the problem to develop a sound, fiscally responsible solution which is going to help all Canadians from coast to coast. That is what everybody in the House wants to have. We need a strong, aggressive, forward thinking economy that is going to help all Canadians while preserving the core of our social programs to ensure that all those in Canada who need it will be taken care of.