Madam Speaker, I am pleased to share my time with the member for Ahuntsic.
I guess the member opposite has had a mortgage and is still alive and well and unfortunately she missed the point of my question.
I am very pleased and honoured to be part of a very historic moment because our federal government budget will be balanced for the first time in almost 30 years. We have achieved this with balance and with determination. We have not been slashing and burning. We have been listening to Canadians. This balanced budget could not have been achieved without the support and with sacrifices from many Canadians. The effort has been worth it.
A balanced budget means no new borrowing by the Government of Canada. We can now begin to pay down our public debts. We can reduce the tax burden of Canadians and we can make important and strategic investments in our health care system and in providing Canadians with access to the knowledge and skills that will be necessary for the jobs of the 21st century.
Our federal budget will be balanced for 1998, 1999 and 2000. This is the first time in almost 50 years that the federal government will have balanced its books for three years in a row. That is why I am pleased to be part of this historic moment.
Some, including members of the official opposition, call for more departmental and program budget cuts. Certainly there will always be room to increase efficiencies and make sure that programs are still relevant. I would like to highlight that by the end of the year 2000 federal program spending in relation to GDP or the size of our Canadian economy will be at the lowest level in 50 years. That is quite an achievement. Over the next two years the percentage of our federal debt in relation to the GDP, the size of our Canadian economy, will drop from 72% to 63%. It will decline very quickly in the years following.
We have started the very important process of paying down the public debt and we will continue to do so. As my colleague pointed out, so far this year $13 billion of market debt has already been paid down.
In this budget the Minister of Finance is providing $7 billion in tax relief to Canadians. When members opposite say there is no tax relief, please, there is $7 billion in tax relief. In terms of new spending initiatives, 80% of our new spending initiatives reflect two of the highest priorities of Canadians, access to knowledge and skills and increased funding for health and education through increased transfers to the provinces.
The key to jobs and growth in the years ahead is knowledge and skills. The Canadian opportunities strategy will help prepare Canadians for this rapidly changing world. The Canadian opportunities strategy acts on seven fronts: one, to help students in financial need to cope with rising costs; two, to increase assistance for advanced research and graduate students; three, it helps individuals repaying student loans, particularly those in need; four, it helps Canadians upgrade their skills throughout their working lives; five, it helps families save for their children's education; six, it encourages employers to hire young Canadians and help young people make the transition to work; and seven, it helps bring the benefits of information technology into more classrooms and communities across Canada.
A very important component of the Canadian opportunities strategy is a Canada millennium scholarship foundation. Canada millennium scholarships will be awarded to more than 100,000 full and part time students each year over the next 10 years. This initiative will level the playing field or begin to level the playing field for low and middle income individuals who demonstrate academic merit.
I was very pleased also to see more support for research in Canada. The increased funding to three granting councils will complement very well the $800 million Canada foundation for innovation which our government launched last year. As a nation, we must invest increasingly in both the public and the private sectors in research, development and in our people. Our federal government, as the fiscal capacity permits, is demonstrating this commitment.
Many conscientious students in my riding come to my office with problems paying off their students loans, so I am very pleased to see the improvements in the Canada student loans program that were announced in this budget. These measures include income tax relief for interest charges on student loans and the extension of loan repayment periods.
Changes to RRSP provisions, the new Canada education savings grant and an increase in the limits of contributions to the registered education savings plans will provide greater opportunities for adults to participate in lifelong learning and for them to save for their children's future education.
This budget allocates a further $850 million to enrich the Canada child tax benefit, a further investment in the future of our children. When children are deprived of the opportunity to reach their full potential, we as a country are deprived of our full potential.
Canadians are concerned about the state of our national health care system. This budget confirms an increase in the cash floor of the Canada health and social transfer from $11 billion annually to $12.5 billion annually. This amount responds directly to the recommendations of the national forum on health.
In addition to this annual cash contribution, our federal government will pour over $13.5 billion in 1998-99 into provincial coffers in tax points for health and social programs. This is totally different from the equalization transfers.
There has been much misinformation about the impact of federal transfer payment reductions to the province of Ontario over the last few years. I would like to clarify that.
When fully implemented, Mike Harris' 30% tax cut scheme will reduce provincial revenues by $4.8 billion per year, money that could have been used to balance the budget or fund health care. It is more than five times as much as the $850 million that federal transfer restraint will have cost the province by the year 1998-99. Let us put things in the proper perspective.
The province of Ontario has made some choices as we have and we have not sacrificed important social programs for tax cuts. General tax cuts will come when we can afford them as Canadians.
This budget begins the process of tax reductions as I said, and I am confident that more tax reductions will follow. We have heard much recently about the so-called brain drain. Some would call it the brain trade, but I think it is clear that we need to pay attention to differential tax policies in the United States and Canada as it affects individuals.
In the United States, for example, tax policies encourage employees to own shares in their own company. Tax policies also encourage employers to set up employee share ownership plans. The results are significant. Increased productivity, more employment, greater job satisfaction and many other benefits. I believe we should be moving aggressively in these areas as well.
In the overall equation, we need to understand and accept the fact that individuals moving to the United States are often making a lifestyle choice. I quote from the Toronto Globe and Mail recently from a professional who moved to the United States and then moved back to Canada after some years in the United States. The article is entitled Back from the Brain Drain. He said: “I doubt that there are substantial tax gains to be made for the average young professional if he had to pay the real cost of health care and relocation.”
This is not from a right wing think tank. This is not theory. This is from a Canadian who went to the United States and has come back.
There are many other positive provisions in this budget which we cannot really outline here in any detail. We have heard about many of them from my colleagues. Not too many of the other members opposite have mentioned them but there is health care, child care expenses, people with infirmities, with disabilities, self-employed individuals, the voluntary sector and a host of other very positive provisions.
To sum up, this budget has balance. It is the Liberal way but I would ask all in this House to celebrate this historic moment and agree among parliamentarians that we will work together to build a stronger future for all Canadians.