Mr. Speaker, I am splitting my time with the hon. member for Saint-Denis.
With this, our fourth budget, we begin to build the future while recognizing we are still constrained by the past. As we head into the new millennium, we are continuing to restore Canada's fiscal health. We are continuing to invest in immediate jobs and growth. We are continuing to invest in job creation and growth in the long run and we are continuing to invest in a stronger society.
From the beginning our government has struggled under the weight of massive debt; like a $500 billion ball and chain, the debt prevented us from going where we wanted.
Today we are by no means unchained. The only thing we spend more on than interest is transfers. We spend more on interest on the debt than on everything else combined, excluding transfers. So debt remains a problem. Even when the annual deficit has gone down to zero the ball and chain of debt will remain until we pay off our enormous loan.
As the economy grows and the debt declines we will be able to move more and more freely. So no, we are not unchained but our deficit is lower than it has been in 15 years. We have restored international confidence in our fiscal management of the country. We have restored our fiscal sovereignty. We have restored interest rate sanity and our load is beginning to lighten. We can now begin to move beyond securing, stabilizing and sustaining, toward striving for a stronger society, toward seizing our destiny in the 21st century.
There are those who say this is simply an election budget, that we are not showing our true colours, that our new spendings on jobs, health care and poor children are just short term election ploys. To them I say look at the numbers. They all add up and we are still ahead of our fiscal targets. If we could not sustain these programs and this new spending, would that be so? To them I say look at the markets. Our interest rates are a full two and a quarter percentage points below the U.S. and the dollar is staying strong. When did that last happen? If we could not sustain this spending, would that be so?
As we begin to shed the mantle of heavy debt, our true colours are beginning to shine through. But let us not forget that for the parties of the right, not just the Reform Party but also the Conservative Party, we have not cut quickly enough. The Conservative leader demanded that we clean up the mess his government left behind. He wanted us to cut deeper. He wanted us to cut faster. But our government has taken a more balanced approach.
From the beginning, even as we cut many areas of government to meet our deficit targets, we invested what we could in key Canadian priorities. We cut our own government the most and we cut our transfers for social programs the least. As we gain greater fiscal freedom we are continuing to invest in those priorities.
With this, our fourth budget, we are continuing to invest in immediate jobs and growth. Jobs and growth have been our number one priority from the start; 790,000 new jobs since we started is nothing to sneeze at but it is not nearly enough.
We are extending the Canadian infrastructure works program which has created jobs for 100,000 Canadians.
We increased funding for youth employment, including doubling assistance for summer jobs. We are investing $15 million per year more on promoting tourism. That is an investment that will help to draw people to the rugged rocks of Peggy's Cove and the beautiful beaches of Queensland and Hubbards.
We are continuing to invest in job creation and growth in the long run. We are establishing the Canada Foundation for Innovation, an $800 million foundation to support research infrastructure especially in health, environment, science and engineering.
In the short run, this means jobs for those who will design and build these new and expanding research facilities. It also means more jobs at universities and hospitals in places like Halifax. In the long run, the research this money supports is key to competing in the global race for jobs in the 21st century.
As we all know, a better education means a better job. We are helping students and their parents cope with the rising cost of education. We are improving the student loan system and enhancing the education credit. We are continuing to invest in a stronger society.
When we began, our indebtedness was threatening the very future of our social programs. Now we are investing $300 million over the next three years to support key recommendations of the national forum on health. Now we are allocating $600 million in new funds for the child tax benefit to reduce child poverty. Now we are allocating $230 million over 3 years to assist Canadian with disabilities.
When we began, Canadians had to marshal a great national will to keep Canada from going broke, to secure our social programs and to make them sustainable. Now we need to begin to marshal that same will to build a Canada that works for everyone. Now we need to strengthen our society to make sure Canada can stride unshackled toward its destiny in the 21st century.
With this budget we turn the page. With this budget we take the first steps together on a great new journey.