Madam Speaker, please note that I intend to share my time with the hon. member for St. Catherines.
I am very pleased to rise today to speak to the 1996 budget. I would first like to congratulate the Minister of Finance. This budget and those tabled by the minister in recent years have always met and often exceeded the government's financial objectives.
The finance minister's budgets work together to help the people of Canada protect their future. To that end, the government has focused its efforts on four primary objectives: maintaining social programs for future generations, ensuring our financial future, rethinking the role of government, and investing in our future.
Although numerous measures will be necessary in each of these areas, today I want to concentrate on those I see as the most important.
One area I am concerned about in the federal government is in securing our social programs for the next century. I know this is a large area to look into in my short 10 minutes but I want to concentrate today on the employment insurance program and go back a bit to when it was first presented in December.
At that time a number of problems were identified. Even before those problems were identified, the minister in his presentation of that proposed employment insurance bill indicated to the House that he was willing to make changes that would be equitable, changes that would be based on common sense. From that time on the Liberal caucus and members of the Atlantic caucus especially have indicated to the minister a number of changes which have to be made.
There is no doubt that the status quo is unacceptable. In my riding constituents have come to see me over the years. They indicated that the unemployment insurance program was not adequate and it had to be updated and modernized. They indicated where the problems were.
I know from personal experience when dealing with a layoff at the Atholville mill and the Dalhousie mill that every time we wanted to have some flexibility in the program we were told it was impossible because the Unemployment Insurance Act did not permit us to do this or that.
I am very pleased to see the government has decided to modernize the UI program. I am also very pleased to see the government has agreed to make changes. The minister from Acadie-Bathurst has decided to listen to the committee. I hope the committee will come up with some good amendments.
I congratulate the members for Fredericton-York-Sunbury, Halifax West, and Etobicoke-Lakeshore for the positive amendments they have put forth in that committee so far. Our commitment and amendments should help clarify the intensity rule by making it more equitable, especially for low income families, as you are so much in tune, Madam Speaker, with regard to alleviating their status at the present moment.
I should also point out another amendment that will be made with regard to the divisor rule. The hon. member for Halifax West has already indicated that he is ready to look at the divisor rule and to link it to the UI rate rather than the flat 20 weeks. That should again alleviate some of the problems that have been put forth or identified in the present bill.
The other thing that should be pointed out is the tremendous job the hon. member for Fredericton-York-Sunbury has done on this dossier altogether on his amendment with regard to the going back 26 weeks for UI eligibility and the counting of hours.
In all of this debate some of the positive things in the bill have been put aside and not emphasized enough. The area of counting of hours for qualifying rather than weeks is going to be positive. It will allow people to qualify sooner. It will allow them to qualify for longer periods. It would also be a way of guaranteeing that all hours count.
The other thing that is important on the other side is the flexibility it will give to the programs. I should mention here the transition fund which will go to high unemployment areas. The government has identified $300 million which will go into that fund and the investment fund, the permanent programs, the $800 million which will be put forth to help create more work.
We realize that the changes are not perfect but what I want to emphasize again is that the government has always been listening and has reacted to the concerns that have been brought up by members of Parliament and especially members of Parliament from the Atlantic region.
The 1994-95 budget measures will help us achieve our deficit reduction objectives for 1995-96 and 1996-97, namely 3 per cent of GDP. The 1996 budget guarantees that the government deficit will go down to 2 per cent of GDP in 1997-98. The deficit will have fallen from $42 billion in 1993-94 to $17 billion in 1997-98.
There is no increase in personal or corporate income tax or excise taxes in this budget. Finally, there have been no personal income tax hikes in the last three budgets.
It is very important to underline the fact of no new taxes because that is what the people have asked us to do. That is what we have heard in our ridings and in the meetings we have had with constituents, from letters and phone calls we have received. People did not want to have an increase in their taxes. The government has responded in a positive way.
The priority area the government has seen fit to work on is getting government right. In this case the budget takes continuing action in reducing waste and inefficiency and in redefining and redesigning the government's programs and activities. Program review, phase one, phase two, it is ongoing. The government has indicated publicly that it will continue that program review to make government more efficient and to cut out a lot of the duplication that exists.
Working at delivering better quality services at lower costs to the taxpayer is what we want. Government must not only spend less, it must spend more wisely. An example of that is in my own Department of Canadian Heritage where a Parks Canada agency will be set up as a form of alternate delivery of services. In that case the agency will continue to report to the Minister of Canadian Heritage but it will allow for the services and the flexibility to be provided in each individual park. It will allow local parks to adjust their mandate to the local situation and to do that in a fashion that is speedier and more efficient.
Our government has been providing the economic and social environment that will encourage the economic growth that makes new jobs possible. The government has worked at keeping inflation down which results in lower interest rates.
The government has also recognized that youth are our greatest natural resource and the key to our future. Since our election a number of programs for youth have been implemented, such as youth services Canada, youth internship Canada and the student summer job action program. In this budget the government continues to build upon the measures taken for youth in the previous budgets. We have provided for on the job training through the reallocation of $315 million over three years to help create youth employment opportunities. The budget also doubles the government's commitment to the summer career placement program.
With regard to Canadian heritage the minister has announced renewed funding for Radio-Canada International which was again a request from Canadians, again a sign that we have listened to Canadians. They told us that it was an important feature of our culture, that it was an important feature for Canadians. We have reinstituted that funding to allow it to continue for another year. The minister is now searching for new ways of funding that service.
I should also point out that the minister has indicated to this House and publicly that a special culture fund is being set up to assist our cultural industries. That should be in place very shortly. The details will be announced publicly whenever they are ready.
I want to thank the Speaker for letting me speak this morning. I hope the hon. members opposite will applaud the Minister of Finance for bringing down a budget that will really benefit this country.