Madam Speaker, it is now my turn to talk about the budget and I am doing it with great pleasure.
I would like to start by congratulating my colleague from Souris-Moose Mountain on his speech, which I found quite eloquent and which helped clarify the content of the budget.
Here we go again, as you probably noticed. The opposition parties are saying all kinds of nasty things on the budget. What is interesting is that it is not at all what is being reported by the media. What are people with no political connection saying? Let me share it with you.
Earlier, you heard the Reform Party members and their magical solutions, simple solutions to complex problems; such is their political platform. I am looking forward to seeing what kind of solutions the nearly defunct New Democratic Party is going to offer. What could the Progressive Conservative Party have to say, it is already extinct.
What concerns me is that the Bloc has already started to spread information; in a little while, I will read a quote showing what I mean. Let us look at what today's papers are saying. Le Devoir : No tax increase in Martin's budget. The Bloc and the Reform do not like this, but Canadian people do. Le Droit says it is a good budget. We read in La Presse : ``What the Minister of Finance is telling us is that it is quite possible to wrestle the deficit and yet remain compassionate; he is also telling us that fiscal responsibility is possible without an abrupt change in direction, contrary to what we have witnessed in Alberta and Ontario.'' This is what La Presse is saying.
The Ottawa Citizen said: The budget is a compromise between relief and austerity''. The Winnipeg <em>Free Press</em> said:
Budget Boosts Buck'' and Blueprint Encourages Economists''. <em>La Presse</em> :
$480 million for young people''.
The Financial Post said: Old and young to reap rewards from continued program spending cuts''. The <em>Globe and Mail</em> said:
Education, Jobs to Receive Boost'' and ``Students, Families Get Relief from Taxes''.
This is what the media are saying. The vast majority are praising the budget. They are saying, with great eloquence, that the Minister of Finance gave us a budget that answers the needs of Canadians; they are saying that he listened and responded.
But what happened to the Bloc? They used part of a quote that I will repeat for you: "The government will not use its spending power to create new shared-cost programs in areas of exclusive provincial jurisdiction without the consent of a majority of the provinces". They stopped there. But that was not the end of the paragraph, the rest said: "Any new programs will be designed so that non-participating provinces will be compensated, provided they establish equivalent or comparable initiatives".
Why did the Bloc use only half of the quote? Obviously because it does not want it to work. This is regrettable because the Bloc ought to have been perfectly frank, totally honest and open.
Now, I am going to talk about the four main themes of the budget. The budget of Canadians: securing their financial future in a number of key areas; reaching or exceeding financial objectives; consistently reducing program spending. There is much information proving it is being done. We are going to rethink the role of government. We will take measures to determine a more appropriate role in the context of a modern federation economy. We will guarantee the future of our social programs, restore trust in the old age security system by providing long term sustainability, and guarantee the security and stability of federal support for health care, postsecondary education and welfare. We will also invest in the future, reallocate funds to make new investments, provide help for young people and support technology and international trade. These are essential areas for job creation and future growth.
I would like to be more specific on some of these points. I will talk first about the investments in our future as they are described in our budget, but before that, there are some details we must remember and repeat. There are no new taxes.
There is $2 million in additional government expenditure reductions. This marks the point at which the Canadian economy begins to gain on the accumulated debt. This is a historic, meaningful and significant happening.
There will be investments in our future. To ensure our future and restore the confidence of Canadians, job creation and financial growth are a priority in the budget; the government has allocated resources to new investments in three main areas: youth, technology and external trade.
Action in these fields is not an increase in expenditure but is financed by budget savings through reallocations from lower priorities. Government cannot solve Canada's problems by simply throwing massive sums of public money at them. This is what has created our difficulties in the past. Instead, we must create an economic and social environment which will encourage the economic growth that makes sustainable new jobs possible.
There is still much work to do, unemployment and youth employment in particular. Therefore taking a collaborative partnership oriented approach to building an environment propitious to economic growth and employment is of utmost importance. We need low inflation, low interest rates and declining deficits because these are all critical to the future of our nation, to the future of Canada.
Let me talk for a moment about youth. Most of us will know that the unemployment of youth, those under 25, is very high; it is in the neighbourhood of 16 per cent. This therefore needs to be addressed. They are the key to our future and we must never forget that. We need to enhance the educational opportunities that will lead to jobs. We must help young people get their first jobs. In that objective I applaud the government for asking profitable businesses to reach out and do exactly that.
It is a very commendable initiative and I see some colleagues in the opposition parties nodding; no doubt it means they agree. I am very happy to see that agreement because it does not happen often enough here.
Let us talk about the learning package. There is an additional $165 million in tax assistance to students and their families over three years. There is 25 per cent in educational tax credits and tuition fee limits.
The ceiling on annual contributions to an education savings plan has been raised. Some help is given to low-income parents living alone in the form of a tax deduction for child care; there is also help for secondary school students; that is a new initiative.
Two-parent families are also eligible for the deduction if both parents are full time students. The current age limit for the deduction will be raised from 14 to 16.
There is $315 million dollars for new employment opportunities.
Seven hundred million dollars are already provided through such programs as Youth Internship Canada, Youth Service Canada and summer job programs.
We will double government commitment to summer job programs, from $60 million to $120 million. With these $60 million we created 30,000 jobs, so we hope to double this number. The remaining funds will be used to improve job possibilities for young people in innovative sectors: information technology, environmental technology, tourism, culture, trade and international development.
These investments will build on a new domestic Team Canada style partnership between business and governments to create entry level jobs for youth.
With these new funds, $315 million reallocated and $165 million in tax expenditures, the budget brings total expenditures for youth-specific programs over a three year period from $700 million to $1.2 billion.
I conclude by saying that I could have gone on for another two hours. I am sure that had I seeked unanimous consent of the House the answer would have been yes.