Debates of Dec. 1st, 1998

Employment Insurance

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to confirm the announcement that was made this morning by my colleague, the Minister of Human Resources Development, that following the recommendation of the Employment Insurance Commission the government will be reducing the employment insurance premiums by 15 cents to $2.55.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Edmonton North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure Canadians feel good. It is sort of like when a mugger steals your purse and gives you bus fare so you can get home—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Human Resources Development and the Minister of Finance have decided to lower contributions to the employment insurance program by only 15 cents.

How can the Minister of Finance lower contributions by a mere 15 cents, when the program could operate for three years just on the surplus accumulated to date, without a penny being raised in contributions?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, it is a shame that the hon. member for Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques is in such a bad mood this afternoon. I think it has nothing to do with the announcement the Minister of Finance and I made today about the contribution rate.

It probably has more to do with the fact that the hon. member for Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques having lost his provincial election in both Riviève-du-Loup and Kamouraska, where he had worked very hard just recently.

The reason for his bad mood cannot be found in the fact that we have lowered the contribution rate for the fifth consecutive year. It is the lowest it has been in Canada in more than eight years.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in our regions, people are expecting more than petty politics from the Minister of Human Resources Development.

The employment insurance program is not intended to allow the government to accumulate billions of dollars in surplus; in fact, the act specifically prohibits unreasonably high premiums.

On the basis of what kind of legal opinion does the Minister of Finance think he can announce a reduction that is one quarter of what could have reasonably been expected?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps it is time the hon. member for Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques came back to this House; he would notice that the recommendation the Minister of Finance and I made to lower contributions is one that was unanimously passed by the employment insurance commission, where both labour and management are represented.

We respected the law and our system. It is absolutely incredible that, on that side, they would try to have people believe that the system does not respect the integrity of a reform of the employment insurance program we had the courage to carry out.

This reform will put $1 billion back into the pockets of Canadian taxpayers.

Taxation

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, StatsCan is reporting that income taxes are rising at twice the rate of Canadian incomes. In fact, now Canadians are being forced to dig into their savings accounts to pay the head tax collector. Oh, how that must warm the spot where the finance minister's heart should be.

Now that Canadians are cleaning out their savings accounts to pay taxes, will the minister acknowledge that his high tax policies really are hurting Canadians?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I have a heart. Reform is the party without heart. The fact is—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[Paul Martin, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows that the numbers he is referring to vary from quarter to quarter. In fact, they vary from month to month. What does not vary are the longer term trends.

I simply announce that real personable disposable income in Canada increased substantially in 1997, rising over 8% from 1996.

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that there has never been a finance minister in the history of the country who has taxed Canadians more ruthlessly than this finance minister.

Instead of taxing Canadians ever more to build up surpluses in the government, when is the finance minister going to start working for Canadians? When is he going to bring in a program of long term, deep tax relief for Canadians?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, in the last budget we brought in over $7 billion in tax relief over three years. Today my colleague, the Minister of Human Resources Development, decreased employment insurance premiums by 15 cents, which represents well over a billion dollars.

Every single year that we have been in office employment insurance premiums have come down. There are two things to count on: employment insurance premiums coming down; and their popularity going down.

Professional Services Contracts

[Serge Cardin, Bloc, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, each year the federal government forks out over $3.7 billion in professional services contracts over $25,000. Over half of these contracts are awarded without competitive bidding. This was what the auditor general had to tell us this morning.

Apart from patronage, what explanation can the Minister of Public Works give for the fact that so many contracts do not go through the competitive bidding process?

[Marcel Massé, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, the auditor general's observations are based on 1995 figures . We agree completely that 55% of contracts being awarded without competitive bidding is a percentage that had to be improved.

And improve it we did. Once the problem was identified, the necessary action was taken and now over 80% of professional services contracts go through the competitive bidding process.

[Serge Cardin, Bloc, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the problem is worse than that. Because of the carelessness of the Minister of Public Works, a contract that started out at $25,000 went as high as $300,000, still without being tendered.

How does the government explain such carelessness, when it is bursting its buttons telling us how well it manages taxpayers' money?

[Marcel Massé, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, there are completely valid reasons for sole sourcing, such as when only one supplier is able to provide the professional services.

It is therefore possible to sole source for reasons that are in the public's interest. But, I repeat, we have already corrected the error pointed out by the auditor general and, since 1995, we have increased the number of contracts that go through competitive bidding from 55% to over 80%.

Multiculturalism

[John Williams, Reform, St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the multiculturalism program is a case study in government waste. According to the auditor general, fully one-third of all grants given out by the heritage minister cannot be justified. The minister has no idea what the program is supposed to achieve, where the money goes or why she is giving the money away in the first place.

How many more years will Canadians have to pay for programs that have no reason to exist?

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Secretary of State (Multiculturalism)(Status of Women)]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the multiculturalism program, we have just finished a complete review of new program guidelines. We have given it a three-year transition.

We are at the end of our first year and we are very pleased that the auditor general was able to pinpoint exactly what we wanted, evaluating how we are moving over the first year of a three-year transition to ensure accountability in the system.

[John Williams, Reform, St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is nothing but waste. But it does not end there. The government is spending billions of dollars on contracts with no competitive bids.

Contracts are handed out, according to the auditor general, to people who are identified before the contract is granted. We have heard of a case in which $3,000 per day was paid to a person on a non-competitively bid contract.

Is $3,000 a day to an individual on a non-competitive contract value for money? Who is looking after the taxpayer?

[Marcel Massé, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, I have already answered that question.

The report of the auditor general on that question is based on data that were collected for 1995. This was a problem. We have now rectified the problem and over 80% of these professional service contracts are granted under competitive bidding.

Aids

[Réal Ménard, Bloc, Hochelaga—Maisonneuve, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are all aware of the plight of AIDS victims.

What is less known though is the extreme slowness with which the federal Minister of Health is acting to approve AIDS medication.

How does the Minister of Health explain that, since 1996, the United States has approved two drugs against AIDS, while only one of these products has been approved in Canada?