Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. leader of the New Democratic Party for participating in the debate today. However, I want to challenge her thesis that if we spend more somehow the debt will decrease.
I would like to point out to the hon. member that in Saskatchewan the New Democratic Party took quite a different view. In fact, it dramatically cut spending for such things as hospitals and it actually ended up balancing the budget.
In practice the NDP actually does something quite different from what it says. I wanted to point that out.
I also want to point out that for 30 years we have been spending more than we have been bringing in. The result has not been that we have eliminated the deficit. In fact, it is quite the contrary. We have built up a debt of $600 billion. The only way the government could finally wrestle it down was to cut spending. Granted it did it in the wrong areas, but that is how it eventually did it.
If we could create jobs by spending more we would all have three jobs. I do not think that a $600 billion debt and 8.6% unemployment point to a formula for creating jobs.
I point out that when the debt rises to $600 billion it is low income Canadians who pay the most. We have a situation now where the average family in this country pays $6,000 a year in taxes as its share of the interest on the debt. The interest on the debt has eaten the heart out of social programs. There have been dramatic cuts made to health care and higher education to the tune of 35%.
I do not see how the hon. member can say that somehow if we spend more it will be good for Canadians.
Finally, I want to point out that because we have spent so much we cannot afford the tax relief which low income Canadians need. A single mother making $15,000 a year still pays $1,300 in taxes. I do not think the hon. member thinks that is socially just. I ask the hon. member, if that is not socially just, why does she not support a plan which would reduce taxes for people like that single mother and leave that money in her pocket so she can look after her child and guide her life the way she chooses?