Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege for me to join the debate, especially after listening to the comments of my colleague, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works. As usual he is correct in what he says. He makes it easier for me to pursue this subject.
Bill C-10 is another example of the government's caring about Canadians, not only for our young people and future generations but for Canadian taxpayers who are out working every day, paying taxes and supporting a country that is unquestionably the best country in the world. According to recent new reports, Canada is also the best country in the world in which to invest.
A government which puts people first is a government that will ultimately provide Canadians with the services they deserve in exchange for the payment of taxes, which at all times taxpayers begrudge. However, when the services are good and when government leadership is good they will accept paying taxes in the knowledge that they are contributing to ensuring the safety of our social safety net for the future, our pension system, our employment insurance system and our health system.
Bill C-10 is an example of the government continuing to be a caring government. When the amendment to the treaty was passed a couple of years ago it is acknowledged that there was an oversight or a mistake. I had a number of constituents who were adversely affected by the measure which allowed their U.S. pension income to be taxed at source, but did not provide them with any means to get a deduction through the tax system because they could not file in the U.S.
One of my colleagues from Windsor said earlier that the Liberal MPs in the Windsor area got together and talked to the finance minister. I applaud their efforts in bringing this issue to his attention. For my part, I also brought the matter to the attention of the finance minister, as I expect did many Liberal members. Being the kind of finance minister he is, being the kind of government that we have, the response was “Let us acknowledge that we have a difficulty here. Let us do something about it”. This is an example of a government which listens. This government cares about the people it serves.
Even though, in terms of numbers, there may only be a few thousand Canadians who are adversely affected, it does not matter that there are only a few thousand. There could be a million or there could be ten. The problem is that these seniors have been adversely affected and if as a government we can do something about it, that is what we have set out to do.
I applaud the efforts of the finance minister in responding to the appeals from his colleagues on this side of the House to do something about the oversight. Canadians can expect that the government will listen to them in future sessions of this Parliament and hopefully beyond.
In recognition of the oversight, the new rules provide for the change to be retroactive to January 1996, so that no one who found themselves caught in this unfortunate trap will at the end of the day pay a penalty. In fact, I understand that Revenue Canada will make every effort to automatically correct this problem for Canadians who have been adversely affected.
Let me use this opportunity to say a bit more about why the government is caring and why it has taken the measure which it has in Bill C-10.
Not so long ago we had the Speech from the Throne. It contained numerous initiatives which, as we head into the next millennium, indicate nothing else but that we want all citizens to benefit from the turning tide, from the growing economy and from the social safety net which past governments and all Canadians have worked so hard over the decades to create. It is in getting the financial matters on a strong footing that we can most effectively take measures to protect valuable programs, such as the health care system, the pension system and the employment insurance system.
Let me speak for a moment about the health care system because it is the very client group, the very citizens who have been helped through this protocol in Bill C-10. In most cases this group has been worried about the health care system. I believe they can find in the leadership of the government, the health minister and the Prime Minister the very best of intentions, the very best of plans to ensure that the health care system continues to be the finest in the world.
I had the chance to visit an Asian country a couple of years ago. While there I discovered that as its economy was growing, its citizens came to a point where they wanted to institute a national health plan. They looked to Canada's plan and implemented a health care system for their country that is modelled after Canada's.
Even though we have our detractors, mostly those from south of the border who do not want to see the U.S. move into a national universal health care system, when they really get down to it these detractors have to admit that the system in Canada costs less per capita on the basis of a percentage of GDP than the U.S. system and covers everybody from coast to coast.
It is a system that Canadians have come to value. They may even take it for granted. It is wonderful that you can take for granted a system that will take care of you and a system that does not require that you pull out your Visa card or chequebook when you go to the doctor or to the hospital. The very citizens who were adversely affected initially by this protocol will now be favourably impacted by Bill C-10. We want to get the message to them that they should not be worried about the health care system.
Yes, changes are taking place at the provincial level. Provinces are for their own and different reasons taking measures to rationalize the health care system and its delivery in their provinces. I believe there is a universal commitment from coast to coast to maintain the five principles even though there may be some debate between the federal government and certain provinces from time to time on the interpretation of those principles. Very few Canadians would want us to step back to decades past with one system for the rich and another for everybody else.
As an extension of the concept of a caring government taking this initiative with Bill C-10, I take as an example the pharmacare system we talked about in the campaign. I grant this is not something that will happen overnight. Maybe it will take five or ten years, maybe longer, to implement a national pharmacare system. If we do not start talking about it now we will never get there. A national drug plan, a plan which would provide all Canadians with equal access to medically necessary drugs is a plan that is typically Canadian, a plan that reflects the values of sharing our wealth and of sharing our vision for a country that cares about its individual citizens.
Along with the pharmacare plan I know there have been some discussions about a universal home care plan. I see it as simply a mechanism to allow our health care system to extend into our neighbourhoods and into the homes of Canadians. That too is a logical extension of the kind of thinking we see from this government consistently.
In my riding of Algoma—Manitoulin in northern Ontario, which is quite a large, beautiful Great Lakes riding, I have about 18 First Nations communities. Very few Canadians would disagree that our First Nations add so much to the culture of our society. At the same time there needs to be a change in the relationship between the federal government and our First Nations which would allow our First Nations to more readily achieve their full potential.
What we heard in the throne speech and what is exemplified by Bill C-10 is the willingness to work with first nations so they can benefit, using their own leadership and their own resources in partnership with the federal government and with the province where appropriate, as can all Canadian communities from the vast riches of the nation.
As we approach the next millennium no Canadian will be left totally behind. We want a society where perhaps there are some who are richer than others but the gap is not a widening gap but a narrowing one. No Canadian will ever complain about being left behind due to illiteracy, health problems or the fact that they live in one area of the country or another.
Even though some critics have said that we have been too focused on deficit reduction, those critics are few and far between. Last Friday a constituent, a leader of a community on Manitoulin Island with its own challenges that is doing very well, who might have had reason to say otherwise told me very sincerely that the government and finance minister were doing a terrific job with the deficit.
They started with fundamentals such as managing their own books the way they would want their own family books to be kept. That starts a domino effect that can do nothing but favourably impact on all other segments of society.
In getting our deficit under control and balancing the books as we will in the next year or so, the government is not out there competing for borrowings with the private sector, which helps keep interest rates down. If there is any better economic development tool than low interest rates, I challenge my colleagues opposite to tell me.
Most of us remember the days of high inflation and high interest rates not only in our country but around the world. Nobody would ever choose to go back to those times. The combination of low interest rates and low inflation has provided an environment of confidence that I have not felt for a long time. I appreciate the opportunity to be part of a government that has a vision, a plan and the will to carry out its agenda.
In 20 minutes it is difficult to say all the things we want to say, but I will pick out the most important ones as I go along. As I listened to some of my opposition colleagues, particularly those in the Reform Party, I heard them use Bill C-10 as a vehicle to talk about their alleged grief over the CPP and Bill C-2. They are rolling that issue under the umbrella of Bill C-10. They have had ample opportunity to say their piece about very necessary changes to the CPP Canadians want us to make but they repeatedly talk about a tax grab.
As I have said earlier, when workers put money toward their CPP and the employer does likewise, it is an investment in a plan that is the envy of industrialized nations around the world. We are one of the few industrialized nations that has taken hold of the pension problem and has taken steps to correct it.
We heard much particularly from the official opposition, the Reform Party, about this 9% plus rate. It will not acknowledge that a private super RRSP plan may require 13% to 15% contributions by Canadian workers without the necessary protection we need for workers who become disabled.
Many constituents have come to see me because they look toward the Canada pension disability program to assist them at a time of great need because of a heart attack or some other medical condition that has rendered them unable to work.
When we put all this together it states that the government cares about the people who have worked so hard to build the country: seniors and the people of my generation and the generations after who will take the baton and continue to build the country. No country anywhere should stop its effort to build. This country is no different. We must continue to contribute in whatever fashion we can to make the country stronger and stronger.
The actions of the government clearly are actions that will make the country stronger. If we have to put up with a bit of criticism along the way, it comes with the territory. It comes with being responsible for governing the country. If it were not for our willingness to take up that challenge and make some tough decisions from time to time, the country would be in a very sorry state.
As I attempt to wind up, let me reiterate the people we are attempting to assist through Bill C-10 are our neighbours, our grandparents and our parents. These people got caught inadvertently in a trap. Our colleagues across the way can look to the government and honestly admit that it has listened.
It is not the first time and it certainly will not be the last time. It is incumbent upon us as a government to continue to listen to the people. My colleagues are regularly in their ridings listening to their constituents either in travelling office hours like I do or at town hall meetings. By that process we know what people are saying. I know my colleagues' doors are always open to their constituents as are the doors to my riding office and to the travelling office I maintain on a regular basis.
The citizens of the Algoma—Manitoulin riding are looking to the government to continue its leadership. I certainly get complaints from time to time which are justified. No government is perfect. I would be the last one ever to say that. I can say with honesty that there is no alternative for the country at this time than the kind of government we are capable of offering to the people. I am proud to be part of the government.