Mr. Speaker, the constituents I represent I think have a correct sense that the country is not functioning anywhere near its economic potential. They know they are generally worse off this year than in past years and they know that the average person is not confident about their financial future. Neighbours talk about the weather but soon they break into groans of dismay or sad laughter of hopeless resignation that the federal government just does not care. They are saying that it knows little about their financial realities, the real truth about families and what they face.
My neighbours may not be experts in macroeconomic and the doublespeak of the annual budget speech. However, they did have some reasonable expectations this time around and they were sadly disappointed. It was not extreme but reasonable to desire that the federal government live within its means and not spend more each year than it takes in.
The federal Liberals were excruciatingly slow to get this country to the balanced budget situation, and in hindsight the numbers reveal that the most prudent course would have been a balance last year after the debacle of the Conservatives.
Their government was replaced in October 1993 and the Liberal's spending control really began with the 1994-95 budget. However, like in 1984 when there was a national mood and general public will to quickly get the national finances in order, the Liberal government dithered and we wound up with worse pain and unneeded deeper financial wounds to heal.
There was a big missed opportunity in 1984, and again in 1994 there was brief hope but it was soon dashed with another big disappointment when the Liberals set such an anemic response to a Canadian financial situation that was by then almost out of control. We plodded so slowly toward a balanced budget but we failed to reap the benefits of earned confidence from the international community and we dragged out the pain of internal disruption.
We also achieved a balanced budget through massive tax hikes rather than a more appropriate balance of spending restraint. We got to the right economic position in the wrong way, in a needlessly painful way, especially concerning health care. The Liberal's cut on that national trust was heartless. It reflected their lack of competence to cut elsewhere, to stop the giveaways to favourites. They failed to be realistic with program review concerning measuring the actual results of much of their program spending. Then from a balanced budget Canada is again disappointed.
Setting a right course for budgets is not all that difficult when a government listens and strives to be accountable to the community. The Liberals are weak in view of the national challenges because of that very fact. They are not committed to local community accountability. They have too many vested interests. They care too much about other agendas and they are too weak to control them. The needy average Canadian at the lower end of the economic order becomes only a Liberal afterthought or a mere slogan. The Liberals lack the accountability to what average Canadians want and need, and this is revealed in the numbers of every budget since the election in 1993.
My constituents have told me that they agreed with the opinion of the leader of the Reform Party when he said: “What a disappointment. For the first time in a generation a prime minister could have charted a new course for our country. He could have set us on the path to debt reduction and tax relief, but he blew it”.
This is what the Leader of the Opposition said at the first question period following the February 24 budget speech. What is resonating in British Columbia is exactly this, debt reduction and tax relief. It seems that those from the left are also attempting to adopt the notion of fiscal responsibility, albeit with a radical twist.
The NDP member for Qu'Appelle recently made some interesting comments in a newspaper article when he stated: “The party and the left in general now has realized that we have to have now a sound financial base”.
This goes back to the CCF and Tommy Douglas. The first thing he preached is that you can't do anything for people unless you have your financial house in order.
The radical twist is that the NDP now wants the government to allocate large amounts of money on new program spending while maintaining strong fiscal practices.
I would like to suggest to the member for Qu'Appelle that a sound financial base includes debt reduction. We cannot ignore the debt. As of today, it is moving frighteningly close to $585 billion or more. Canada's fiscal house is not in order. It is not even close.
The Liberals in the last election promised that of the surplus, half would go to new spending and the other half would go to debt reduction and tax relief.
Canadians may have been impressed by this notion, however Reformers knew very well that, like so many broken promises before, this was just another to throw on the heap of promises.
The Liberals promised to make changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement and they did not. The Liberals promised to scrap the EH-101 helicopter deal. At first they did and then the pressure got to them and they were forced to renege on that promise. Then there was the infamous promise to scrap, kill and abolish the GST. They did not.
These were major policy decisions upon which governments are made or unmade, a series of broken promises. I cannot speak for all Canadians, but I can speak for my own constituents in New Westminster—Coquitlam—Burnaby and I can assume that their feelings are similar to those from other cities and provinces and territories. They simply want promises kept. It is as simple as that.
Why is it so tough for this government to understand what is meant by integrity in politics? Government members sit in their seats, smirking, thinking about how wonderful it is to have gotten away with broken promises. They said things to get elected which they had no intention of keeping. These actions will come back to haunt.
I watched the newspapers quite closely following the budget. It was important to me to see how the others reacted, in many cases columnists and financial institutions in the private sector with their finger on the pulse of the nation.
I want to read a couple of the quotes that I pulled from the papers: “The government's approach in this budget falls far short of providing adequate emphasis on debt reduction”. That is Ernst & Young's analysis of the 1998 federal budget.
Another one: “Lower tax rates would generate more spending, jobs and income. They would increase Canada's attractiveness for new investment and improve the quantity and quality of job opportunities, particularly among our youth”. That was also from the Ernst & Young analysis.
Another quote: “For a situation in which balanced budgets are being forecast for the years ahead, there is not nearly enough relief for overburdened taxpayers who have taken the hits for deficit reduction”. That was Neville Nankivell of the Financial Post .
From the Canadian Chamber of Commerce: “The federal budget sets its sights on the wrong target by focusing on spending rather than taking strong action to pay down the massive $583 billion national debt. The federal debt translates into $19,000 for every man, woman and child”.
Canadians are being squeezed to death and they are pleading for tax breaks, yet the finance minister feels that Canadians want more program spending. Did the minister not consult with the average citizen to see what they really needed most and wanted?
Did the average citizen really tell the minister that what was needed was a $2.5 billion millennium scholarship fund that would only affect 6% of all students in Canada and would discriminate against students who choose open public universities that do not take taxpayer money through direct support?
Did the minister believe that Canadians would accept a tax increase to pay for new program spending of paid day care while discriminating against parents who sacrifice income for one parent to stay at home to look after their own? Absolutely not.
The minister does not care what ordinary Canadians think because they have expanded their discriminatory ways. The only thing that the minister cares about is finding new methods to reclaim the old Liberal ways of spend, spend, spend.
The Reform's budget plan says there is a need to revise the Income Tax Act regulations to end discrimination against parents who provide child care at home and also ensure equitable treatment for one income child care at home.
Thankfully this year's budget is balanced but now is not the time to open up overall spending again. Canada cannot continue down that path. Our fiscal house is not in order. The finance minister cannot claim victory. There is still a tremendous amount of work to do.
Moody's Investor Service of New York has indicated that it is not ready to reinstate Canada's highly coveted triple A rating. It says that the success of this budget was due to extremely good luck due to the upturn in the economy and tax increases. This says to me that the government could have done so much more. Had the government attacked the debt Moody's may have been compelled to boost the national credit rating.
I want to close by saying that though things may not look very good, Reform is not going to give up. In 1993 we came to Ottawa with ideas that made sense and they make even more sense now. The vision we have for this country is sound and we have stood by our principles and our promises. We believe in Canada and we believe strongly that it can recover from this fiscal crisis.
I desire to serve to bring a better Canada to everyone regardless of economic situation, and with more economic compassion we can do better as we enter the next millennium.