Mr. Speaker, last year I rose in the House to speak in a similar debate. At that time I raised concerns regarding the social deficit in this country, in particular the issue of child poverty, and urged the finance minister to do something for Canadian children in need.
I am a member of the Liberal Party child poverty committee. Last year this group of Liberal members spoke to the finance minister a number of times and also had an opportunity to meet with the Prime Minister and other members of cabinet. We asked for an increase in the working income supplement.
As a group of House of Commons backbenchers and one Liberal Senator, the child poverty group worked very hard and in the end our efforts were rewarded. The cabinet, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance listened and the Canadian children benefited.
In the 1996 budget the working income supplement was doubled for low income families. This change will increase assistance by $250 million a year to 700,000 Canadian families.
These are not easy times in which to govern. We must recognize the challenges facing the Minister of Finance and applaud his efforts to stabilize the Canadian economy. He has taken strong measures to correct the previous government's mismanagement of the public finances. As a result the confidence of the people in the national government has increased. We have exceeded our deficit reduction targets, interest rates are lower than they have been for 40 years and almost 700,000 new jobs have been created.
We are getting the economic fundamentals right to create an environment of opportunity for job creation. Tough decisions have been made to get our economic deficit under control and Canadians can take comfort in the fact that we are making prudent judgments in a balanced and compassionate way.
In light of calls by the Tories and the Reform Party advocating income tax cuts, it is imperative that we continue to stay the fiscal course. In fact, I conducted a recent poll in my riding and results to date show overwhelmingly that over three-quarters of the respondents do not favour the policies of the Tories and the Reform Party on income tax cuts. Until the debt and deficit are under control, income tax cuts are fiscally irresponsible and detrimental to the public good. One has to look no further than the extreme disparities between rich and poor that have resulted in Ontario from the tax cut imposed by the Progressive Conservatives under Premier Harris.
The finance minister has spoken about the plight of poor children many times in this Chamber. I know he will continue to establish initiatives that seek to better the lives of all children in Canada. We must continue to reduce the social deficit in this country.
Today I would like to address the third deficit we face, the ecological deficit. Increased awareness of the causes of environmental degradation and the impact on human health ensure a high national concern for environmental issues.
As human beings, we often forget that we are part of nature, that we are in nature and that nature is in us. We are, in some ways, disconnected to the natural world. In the words of Edward Wilson, biological wealth is the basis of our material and cultural wealth. Too many forget this inextricable link and place short term economic gain ahead of long term ecological disaster.
Thomas Berry, an ecotheologian says in his book The Dream of Earth , that the earth community is a wilderness community that will not be bargained with, nor will it simply be studied, or examined or made an object of any kind, nor will it be domesticated or trivialized, except when other living species are violated so extensively the human itself is imperilled.
He goes on to say that if the earth does grow inhospitable toward human presence, it is primarily because we have lost our sense of courtesy toward the earth and its inhabitants, our sense of gratitude,
our willingness to recognize the sacred character of habitat, our capacity for the numinous quality of the earthly reality.
We must remember to be grateful for the biological material that we use. We must remember to be courteous to the earth community as we use its products. We must be ever mindful of the effect of the disposal of waste materials back into the earth.
Paul Hawken, author of The Ecology of Commerce , states that we currently use 40 per cent of the world's biological production. In 40 years the earth's population will double. If there is no increase the rate of consumption, we will use 80 per cent of what is produced. Major ecosystem failure happens at 60 to 70 per cent.
We pump toxins into the water, the air, the soil. Some substances act as endocrine disrupters and affect the endocrine system, especially on developing human and non-human fetuses. Scientists have yet to determine a tolerable minimum threshold. It appears that the timing of exposure has more significance than the dose. As a result, endocrine disruptions play havoc with the reproductive and neurological systems of the developing fetus.
Some forms of endocrine disruptions, like PCB molecules, are persistent and can travel with the wind currents to pristine, isolated Arctic areas where they biomagnify as they make their way up the food chain. Once absorbed in the flesh of higher order animals and mammals, they bioaccumulate. PCB ratings in the milk of Inuit mothers is significantly higher than mothers who live in the south.
I am pleased to say that we have met, and in some cases exceeded, our ozone depletion goals. However, we must work harder to achieve our climate change commitments.
Environmental problems are complex and multifaceted. They require the support of many inside and outside of government. It is not only the Minister of the Environment that should champion the environment. The Minister of Finance can also support the cause of a healthier environment. This starts by greening the budget.
I would like to congratulate the Minister of Finance on the steps he took in the last budget to begin this process. Changes were made to the Income Tax Act that allow for tax incentives for donations of ecologically sensitive land. This is an excellent model for encouraging conservation. As well, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Natural Resources are looking at removing fiscal barriers to energy efficiency investments.
These are examples of a good start. I commend the Minister of Finance on these initiatives. We must work hard to continue to find ways to reduce our ecological deficit. Above all, we must remember to show courtesy and gratitude for the biological wealth that the earth community provides us, for this biological wealth is the basis of all our other wealth.