Mr. Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to enter the budget debate and I congratulate the minister for the progress he has made in getting the deficit under control.
I support the approach of the minister in setting short term targets and meeting them with a gradual, well executed plan. It is clear that the approach has increased confidence in the economy.
In Atlantic Canada, the unemployment rate decreased from December 1994 to December 1995 from 14.1 per cent to 12.3 per cent. Domestic exports from January to October 1995 over the same period in 1994 have increased by 18.8 per cent. Manufacturing shipments have increased by 11.6 per cent.
In P.E.I., tourist data show that total visitor spending increased from $121.5 million in 1993 to $177.9 million in 1995. That is a clear indication of a healthier economy because most of the visitor spending statistics show the spending came from Canadian visitors in the main.
No doubt that is due to the better economy brought on by the successive budgets of the Minister of Finance. People want to come to see the beauty and the wonderful hospitality of Prince Edward Island. I encourage members in the House to come and see for themselves. Because of the improving economy and because we have a provincial Liberal government in Prince Edward Island, that province last week announced its second surplus budget. Certainly the Minister of Finance in Prince Edward Island should be congratulated for his performance.
Quite a number of my colleagues have talked about major advancements in the budget to address the needs of people. Measures are targeted at youth employment. We certainly welcome that endeavour. The increase in the working income supplement is a major move forward which I support, as I do securing seniors' pensions into the future.
In all our budget measures, finding the balance is always difficult. Since I came to this place, I have tended to lay out the facts, the good and the difficult. I intend to do so again today.
We must recognize the impact the federal budget will have on rural Canada and the economic activity on which rural communities are based, especially when the budget is combined with previous budgets.
We have to be cautious when looking at investing in the new technologies. It is the natural resource industries: agriculture, fishing, mining and forestry that have been the mainstay of the country over the years and will continue to be the mainstay into the future. In our quest to expand into the new service and technology areas, we should not draw too far from those basic natural resource areas that have built this country to what it is today.
This is my key point today. The government must recognize the necessity to continue to pursue its initiatives of deficit and debt reduction but with a key proviso that if the initiatives currently under way begin to have a negative impact specifically on the economic well-being of rural Canada, the federal government will be prepared to respond quickly, adjusting those policies should they have a negative impact.
I ask specifically that the government monitor the impact on rural Canada and be prepared to address negative impacts should they occur. Rural Canada has done more than its fair share in meeting our deficit needs. These have included transport policy changes, cost recovery and marine policy, cost recovery in Agriculture Canada, reduction of subsidy programs in the farm community. In the main and from what I hear from rural Canadians, they are
willing to accept the new responsibilities and shoulder on. But should the burden become excessive, I expect the government to be there to back them up.
I view the throne speech in part as being that kind of commitment. The throne speech said in part:
The Government is committed to the economic renewal of rural Canada. The Government will address the problems facing rural Canadians in a way that is tailored to their needs. Rural Canada is rich in natural and human resources and faces different challenges than urban areas. The Government will move forward in the coming session to make sure that all Canadians benefit from economic prosperity.
Let me take a moment to outline one of the areas that is the foundation of wealth in the country, the agriculture sector. Agriculture accounts for 8 per cent of Canada's gross domestic product. It accounts for 15 per cent of Canada's total employment, 1.8 million jobs. In 1995 agriculture products accounted for $17.3 billion of exports, a 30 per cent increase over two years.
As I have already mentioned, we have to be careful not to undermine the goose that laid the golden egg, the agriculture sector. Over the past couple of years it has absorbed some hits and has lost programs.
I do not mind admitting that I am a little worried about the new and increasing use of user fees throughout the agriculture and supporting sectors that add to costs. In fact, in agriculture and agri-food alone we could face, I believe, 42 such user fees. One in and of itself is not a problem but the domino or multiplier effect could be serious and we need to monitor it to ensure that does not happen.
Another point I would like to make about user fees is that not only does the government have to monitor and control its deficit, it also has to keep in mind that other trading countries, our competitors, do the same thing and cut back on their subsidy programs and increase the costs to their agriculture sector. We do not want to find ourselves in a position of undermining the competitiveness of our producing sector in our gusto for deficit reduction.
There are all kinds of examples where the government, differing from previous governments, has responded to unexpected and serious happenings. For example, the recommendations with respect to the feed freight assistance has enabled the federal government to change the timeframe within which compensation is to be provided from the initial 10 to 3 years. That was a change recognizing the concerns of farmers.
The effort to sell the government owned hopper cars to the railways at a discount of 75 per cent of market value with farmers picking up the remaining 25 per cent through increased freight charges has been delayed, allowing a producer based coalition to come forward with an alternative financing arrangement in which maybe producers could take control of those cars. Those are good, positive moves.
In conclusion, the Atlantic region in particular has long faced unique challenges in its economic development. One key role the federal government has performed is to assist those provinces and the region through the sharing of national resources and wealth. This has been the hallmark of the Canadian federation.
It will be important that where financial transfers are being reduced over the next number of years that the federal government ensure that essential services are maintained. Should there be problems those changes should be monitored and the government be prepared to meet the challenges to assist the producers and the communities should they find themselves in unexpected need.