Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to speak on this legislation which will allow the enactment of certain provisions of the budget for this year.
It distresses me somewhat when I talk to people who do not seem to understand the serious financial situation in which this country finds itself. I believe it was a Liberal government about 30 years ago that started us on some very serious deficit financing and that was carried on by the Conservative Mulroney government which preceded this Liberal government.
Canadians felt that when we entered into the election debate in 1993 that the people who now represent this government recognized that this trend to go into serious deficit budgeting had to stop. It distresses me that although we hear them talking about lowering the deficit from $40 billion to $38 billion or $36 billion that they seem to believe that is going to solve the problem. It will not.
Canadians are looking for a government that is committed to reducing government spending in very serious and real ways.
Speaking for voters and taxpayers of British Columbia, I know it concerns them when they see that the government seems to deal differently with different parts of the country.
The Liberals talk about things like equalization payments. There is a program which is supported by most if not all provinces where those provinces that do not have the ability to provide some of the basic services for their people that the taxpayers in those provinces who are in a better position economically are more than willing to add financial support to see that the basic services are provided to those have not provinces.
Not only is there this equalization payment act that allows for this up front, but we are also finding, over and over again, that in different government policy programs there continues to be special financial considerations for these other provinces above and beyond the equalization payments that fall under the equalization payment act.
The people in British Columbia are getting a little bit tired of carrying not only the additional burden under the equalization payments but a continual added burden in various legislation, whether it is the regional development grants, whether it is in the infrastructure program or whether it is the billion dollars that is going into Atlantic Canada to convince them to co-operate with the federal government in its harmonization of the GST and the provincial sales tax.
The people of British Columbia are getting tired of having to pay for these programs in order to convince the have not provinces to co-operate with the federal government. To be quite honest, it is not fair to the taxpayers of British Columbia to have to support the equalization payments which give money to the have not provinces. It is not fair to the taxpayers of British Columbia to have to support Quebec's $90 million grant for settlement services for their immigration program.
British Columbians know that the number of immigrants and refugees that province is going to be taking in is a very small portion of the total number of immigrants and refugees coming into Canada. It is not fair for taxpayers outside of the have not provinces to not only be hit with the equalization payments, but to continually support government programs which favour one region over another.
The west coast fishery is struggling. It is proposed that the fishing fleet be cut in half. Hundreds and hundreds of west coast fishermen will be put out of business. They will not be able to afford their boats, their homes or look after their families. What is the response of the federal government? To throw a few pennies in that direction compared to the financial and other support that went to the east coast fishery when it was in difficulty.
It is these inconsistencies in how the country is operated which promotes questions about being part of this country. Canadians do not understand the differences. Canadians do not understand why they pay for the equalization program, the Canada-Quebec accord and again for the billion dollar buyout of Atlantic Canada. They have paid for programs which built hockey rinks and boccie courts. I do not know what boccie is, but that is okay. I do not have the time to play it anyway.
Canadians do not understand how the government with a national debt I believe of $575 billion and growing, knowing that it is going to be $600 billion in debt in 1997, can continue to spend money for these programs at the expense of three provinces of the country.
It is also difficult for Albertans to understand how it could be hit with the national energy program, where it put $900 billion more into confederation that it has received. It is continually being asked to spend more and more to support government programs such as the billion dollar expenditure to convince some of the have not provinces to let the federal Liberal government walk all over them one more time.
I would suggest that with the exception of a few of the younger members of the House, the real tragedy is for the future generations. The real tragedy will be the young people of today who are having a difficult time affording a post-graduate education and when when they do get that education they are not able to find work. When they do find work it is at minimum wage which does not allow them to buy a house, buy a vehicle or establish a base to start a family. That is the real tragedy.
Part of the tragedy is that the federal government continues a process which expects those individuals who are already struggling to make their place in Canadian society to pay for programs and policies which they are not going to receive any benefit from. It is my children and my grandchildren who are going to see most of their income going to pay the debt of the federal government, the debt of the provincial government and to pay the cost of municipal government.
That is not fair. It is not fair to these young people who are looking to the future with some hope and excitement to find out that all they are doing is paying for programs of which I and my parents have had the benefit.
In my two and one-half years in this House I would like to say I have seen some change in attitude from the government side, but I cannot honestly say that I have. I do not see any difference between the Liberal government of today and the Brian Mulroney Conservative government of days gone by. It has an attitude of largesse when spending money, of not understanding that the government's money comes from the taxpayers and that the government does not have this great big money tree growing outside of Centre Block.
I can honestly say I do not see any difference in attitude and that is the greatest tragedy of all. We are no further ahead now than we were three or four years ago when the Canadian people said they
wanted something different. They wanted a government to take control of government spending.